


Remember Me

by EEBinx



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV), Supernatural, Teen Wolf (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Crossover, Drama, F/M, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:08:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 54,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27516604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EEBinx/pseuds/EEBinx
Summary: I don't know who, what, when, or where I am. I woke up in the woods with a crystal inside my pocket as my only clue. The sun burns my eyes, my throat has never felt so dry, and for some reason, the smells of blood and chocolate are driving me wild...?  AU Full-bodied Teen Wolf (post-season 4 or thereabouts. Not following canon story or timelines i.e. Allison is alive, no Issac, no Malia, Derek is still pre-evolution, Kira is in New York for fall break, Buffy happened closer to Teen Wolf years. Basically, the timelines are Frankenstein-ed, and just go with it, ok?) A spoonful of Supernatural, a cup of Vampire Diaries, and a dash of Buffy the Vampire Slayer universes/lore, and just a hint of real-world Dylan O'Brien. Cross-posted on Fanfiction.net.
Relationships: Stiles/ Original Female Character
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	1. I'll Give You A Hint

**Author's Note:**

  * For [My Dad](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=My+Dad).



> Blanket Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Wolf or the associated characters or plot points, Buffy the Vampire Slayer or the associated characters or plot points, Supernatural or the associated characters or plot points, or Vampire Diaries or the associated characters or plot points. Credit to The Simpsons, Sherlock, John Denver, John Mayer, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Doctor Who, For King and Country, Psychocybernetics, It's Kind of a Funny Story, How To Win Friends and Influence People, A Purpose-Driven Life, or anything else you might recognize as someone else's property.
> 
> This story are dedicated to my dad, Zane Burnell, who passed away April 9, 2019 after fighting liver cancer for nine months.

Chapter 1: I'll Give You A Hint

My head pounded and the sunlight shot through my clenched eyelids. A man talked nearby but to concentrate on its sound only increased the pain.

Unconsciousness swallowed me as I could feel myself lifted up.

"...and you don't recognize her from school?" It was the voice from earlier but this time he whispered.

"No," a boy's voice whispered back.

"Why did you bring her here- why didn't you take her to the hospital?" asked yet another boy's voice. This one seemed to move closer. He brought with him the smells of blood and chocolate and my dry throat burned.

"Stiles, wait!" whisper-yelled the first boy. The steps stopped. My heart beat...once...? My heartbeat was so slow. Oh God, am I dying?!

"What?" 'Stiles' whispered back.

I could hear the sound of someone as they shuffled their feet. My head no longer pounded; everything was calm and relatively quiet. I could tell by the cooler temperature and still air that we were inside somewhere. The lack of a fluorescent hum, abundant bird songs, and the light told me it was daytime, and I could sense we were secluded in the woods and were those...heartbeats I could hear? Yes. Three strong, distinct heartbeats. I could smell so many things besides the mouth-watering aroma from this 'Stiles' boy. I smelled rotted wood, dust, dirt, cold ash, the acrid smell of rodents, and two different wild, dog scents. Those were just what I could smell within my immediate surroundings.

"I don't know. She smells..." he paused and I tried not to take offense. "...strange. What is she, Derek?"

'What is she?' What was that supposed to mean? And how can I hear and smell all those things?

'Derek' sighed "I'm not sure. I've never come across this kind of scent before. She smells..." he paused, too.

"Dangerous," supplied the boy without a name.

Me, dangerous? Ha! I scoffed in my head.

There was a beat of silence before I heard 'Stiles' step closer to me again.

"Pfft! Ok, 1. she can't be taller than like, 5 feet. 2. she looks like she'd blow over in a breeze. And 3..." I could tell he had leaned over me now and brought that delicious scent with each breath and movement. "...she's out cold."

I couldn't take it anymore, something inside of me snapped; he smelled so good. In a blink, I sat up and grabbed him by his shoulders. In a tenth of a second I took in his dark chocolate eyes as they widened and his pink, Cupid's bow lips as they parted in surprise. His hair was longish and a bit windswept. He wore an unzipped gray hoodie over a white t-shirt. The words 'Slow Kids' curved over two crossed drumsticks and 'At Play' curved under it blazed in black on his chest. He also wore jeans and black Converse.

"Whoa!" I yelped. I miscalculated everything and clenched my eyes shut as our momentum carried us over until I was on top of him on the floor. We both landed with a huff and a cloud of dust erupted around us. My speed and strength confused me as much as it startled him. I felt his heart as it pounded under my hands and I heard it like thunder in my ears. I smelled the blood just under the thin skin that covered his throat. I closed my eyes again and mmmed. He shivered and his breath came out ragged. My mouth began to water, my canines grew and pricked my bottom lip. His blood will taste amazing! The thought flashed in my crazed mind and I opened my mouth, my teeth grazed his throat... W-what? No! What is wrong with me? Sanity slapped me and my eyes flew open as I threw myself off of him. I half crashed through the burned wall on the other side of the room and landed on the floor with an, "Ow!"

It all happened so fast that the two others had only just managed to reach us before I had already retreated. "I- I am so sorry!" I panted at the boy who still lay on the dusty floor. He looked dazed. I felt my teeth shrink to normal. What in the world?!

The sound of a high-pitched squeak and frantic claws scratched behind me in the wall and the smell of fresh blood caught my attention. My eyes widened and I felt my teeth scrape my lip again. Without hesitation, I reached through the mess to two rats that lay pinned under the debris I had created when I crashed into it. One's leg was shattered and its tiny bones stuck through its skin and fur. I grabbed them both and drained them one after the other. The fire in my throat lessened by a few degrees.


	2. Blood and Chocolate

Chapter 2: Blood and Chocolate

After a breath my teeth retracted and I blinked rapidly. I looked up to see looks of disgust on all three guys' faces that could only match my own. I looked back at the shriveled rat carcasses in my hands in disbelief and quickly tossed them several feet with a repulsed, "Ugh!" My whole body trembled as I backed away into a corner and wrapped my arms around my knees. I pulled them to my chest and buried my face in horror and humiliation. My long dirty braid fell over one shoulder. "What is happening to me?!" I wailed into my knees. I could almost hear them pass glances and my heart gave another dull thud.

"Well, going off the whole, ya know, blood-drinking thing... I'm going to guess vampire?" said 'Stiles', as he finally got to his feet and dusted himself off.

My head whipped up and I gave him a 'Don't be ridiculous' look and saw 'Derek' and the other one look at each other again in my peripheral. 'Derek' had short black hair, eyes of several shades of green, and lashes that girls would kill for. He wore a simple white t-shirt under a black leather jacket, dark blue jeans, and black leather boots. The other boy had dark brown hair that I just knew would curl some if it were a bit longer and eyes the color of rich, dark coffee. He wore some sort of maroon sports jersey, blue jeans, and white athletic shoes.

"Scott, call Allison and Lydia. See if they can meet us here with the Bestiary," instructed 'Derek'. 'Scott' pulled out his phone and stepped outside.

"What's your name? I'm Stiles, that's Derek," Stiles nodded over his shoulder at the older guy who continued to stare at me, "and the guy who just walked out is Scott."

I swallowed and opened my mouth to answer only to come up short. What the heck is my name? "I- I don't know!" I whispered. I slammed my teeth together and tried not to panic. My breaths came quick and shallow and my heart gave another sluggish thud. I closed my eyes and said the first name that came to my mind. "Um, Emma Watson?"

"Like the actress?" asked Stiles.

"Who?"

"She's the British actress who played 'Hermione Granger' in the 'Harry Potter' series. Eight movies from seven books. Any of this sound familiar?" he tried to help.

"Dork," muttered Derek, too quiet for Stiles to hear.

I ignored Derek and dropped my chin back to my knees before I answered Stiles. "No, but 'Emma' just feels right."

"Sounds good. I like it," Stiles smiled at me.

I blushed.

Thud.

"How is that her heartbeat...?" breathed Derek still across the room, but I heard him like he was right beside me.

"What?" asked Stiles as he turned to look at Derek.

Derek spoke a little louder, for Stiles to hear I supposed. "Her heart has only beat maybe 7 times in as many minutes," he clarified. "Even when she tackled you and then jumped away it only beat once."

Stiles looked back at me, concern or confusion furrowed his brow. "Well that's not normal," he stated the obvious.

A snort of nervous laughter escaped me before I could help it. I could feel the panic begin to rise again.

"What happened? What am I?" I had to accept that something wasn't right about me, but... "Last I read about vampires they didn't have heartbeats, even really slow ones, and, oh yeah, this is the real world. Vampires, werewolves, witches...they aren't real!" Derek and Stiles exchanged glances, but I plowed on. "Where am I? What day is it?" I searched their faces and waited for answers.

Derek cocked his head before he answered. "I found you in the woods way off the road. You were mostly unconscious; you mumbled something about a car. It's possible you got hit, but you didn't appear to have any injuries. Your scent is something I've never smelled before; a different kind of wildness... dangerous," he echoed the earlier statement. "I didn't take you to the hospital in case there was something supernatural about you. That would just make my life harder, so I brought you here."

That explanation only left me with more questions and the first one I blurted was, "And 'here' is?"

"What's left of my old home," he said as he looked around with sadness in his eyes.

Stiles looked around and said, "Yeah, it's seen better days."

Another snort of laughter escaped me and Derek glared at him. "But where are we? Geographically, I mean?" I asked.

Derek frowned in surprise but before he could open his mouth to speak Stiles cut him off. "Beacon Hills, California. And it's October 25," he said.

"I wish that meant something to me," I said glumly. I turned to Derek, "What did you mean when you said 'supernatural'? And you keep mentioning my 'scent'... at this rate, I'm hoping you're something, too, or else I just smell really bad…" I winced.

Scott opened the door and came back in before I could get any more answers. A breeze came with him and it stirred the stale air. I caught Stiles' intoxicating scent again and felt the blaze in my throat flare up again. This time I noticed a sort of itch in my gums as my teeth threatened to come back down and I felt my mouth begin to water. I stood up in a flash which startled the guys. "Could we open a window, or better yet move this outside? Preferably with me upwind of you guys or something," I asked quickly. They just blinked at me, still on guard from my little jump-scare. I tried to swallow the extra saliva or else I'd have started drooling. "You- uh, smell really good and I don't know how or if I can control this," I gestured at my fangs as they made their appearance and my face reddened as my eyes flicked to Stiles'. His eyes bore into mine and when I couldn't hold his look anymore my gaze went to his lips as he started to speak.

"What do I smell like?" he blurted, his cheeks turning a bit pink.

"Like…blood... and chocolate," I said a tad breathless and swallowed again.

His pink mouth made a little 'o' of surprise and his eyebrows shot up. I felt my ears turn as red as my face as we made our way outside. The sun was too bright but it was bearable in the shade of the porch and the breeze was fresh. My teeth retracted slowly. A few yards from the front of the house there sat a sleek and shiny black car, a dirt bike, and a rugged, baby blue Jeep. We stood several feet apart; for their own safety, I kept my distance.

"What about them?" Stiles asked as he gestured at Scott and Derek. "What do they smell like?"

My nose wrinkled involuntarily and I blurted, "Oh, they don't smell appetizing at all! More like, I don't know, wild dog or something..."

Stiles smirked at Scott, "I smell appetizing," he whispered. "Wait, that's probably not good, huh?" He glanced back at me, his brow furrowed.

I dropped my face in my hands, too embarrassed to look at the lot of them.

"Interesting," said Derek. "What else can you tell me- what do you see? Hear? Smell?" I looked up at him from between my fingers dubiously. "Well, obviously you have more strength than just an average human...especially for your size. Right, Stiles?" he smirked at Stiles who rolled his eyes and pretended to laugh.

I blushed again but lowered my hands and used my new, stronger senses to learn about my surroundings. "I can see the seven different shades of green in your eyes," I replied. I looked back inside through the open front door and watched the dust glisten and sparkle in the light that managed to filter through the filthy window on the other side of the house."I can see the dust motes and the prisms they make," I said. I looked over at Stiles and my heart gave another weak thud. "I can count every freckle and mole you have."

I closed my eyes and breathed in. "I can smell the chocolate you had on the way over here." I licked my lips. "I can smell the gum Scott has in his pocket.

Eyes still closed, I tilted my head a fraction and continued, "I can tell you there is a herd of...12 deer about... 100 yards...that way," I pointed my thumb behind me, "and that there is a mountain lion stalking them. And I can hear by the increased heartbeats that you are having second thoughts about bringing two more people into this, even if they can help."

Silence.

I opened my eyes. They all just stood there and blinked at me with looks of impressed shock on their faces.


	3. Temptations

Chapter 3: Temptations

I dusted myself off from when I'd crashed into the wall and crawled on the floor earlier and cleared my throat. "Look, I appreciate your offer to help me but I'll just go. It's not like any you owe me anything," I said, even though I hoped they wouldn't take me up on the offer and felt panicked at the thought. "You don't know me from Eve." I stuffed my hands in my pants pockets and started to walk towards the porch steps when I realized there was something in my pocket.

"No, wait," Scott was the first to react. He looked imploringly at Derek and Stiles. "I can call the girls back and just- we can talk to them over the phone. They can still help, but I think limiting any more temptations," he glanced at Stiles clearly trying not to smirk, "would be a good idea."

My face heated up again when Stiles looked at me at Scott's word choice and I looked away. To buy me some time to get my face to a less-embarrassing shade, I took out the thing that was in my pocket. It looked like a piece of onyx about an inch long cut into a sort of hexagonal rod that tapered off somewhat bluntly at each end. It looked like a typical crystal you might see in some naturalist shop. Alrighty then...? I thought, then out loud I said, "Ok. Thank you," I whispered shy but relieved as I peeked up at Scott. He smiled and nodded at me before he took out his phone again and walked to the other end of the porch. I looked back at the onyx/crystal thing in my palm. What is this?

"What is that?" asked Stiles. He took a step closer and then seemed to think better of it and stayed back with Derek.

I looked up at him still too embarrassed to meet his eyes, so I watched his lips instead. "I don't know. It's the only thing in my pockets. Here," I said and tossed it to him.

He caught it against his chest with a quiet, "Ow."

"Sorry," I called sheepishly.

He rubbed the spot on his chest and looked from the crystal to me. "Oh, it's fine. I get worse in practices," he said. Then he held the crystal up to the sunlight that filtered through the trees.

"Practices?" I echoed.

"Lacrosse," he answered me but continued to stare at the stone in the light. "Yeah. Scott's Co-Captain and I'm on first-line," he said with clear pride.

Derek rolled his eyes.

"That's good," I said, not sure what that even meant.

"Yeah," he nodded and dropped the stone into his palm. He raised and lowered it to get a feel for its weight.

"I don't think I like 'sports'... I think I like running, though..." I said to myself but Stiles heard me.

He tore his eyes away from the crystal to lift his chin and give me a look I didn't know how to interpret. "Maybe you do; you should come to watch our next practice."

Derek chuckled and Stiles shot a glare at him before he made to toss the stone back to me. I caught it deftly and surprised myself. I put it back in my pocket. Suddenly, the wind changed and I caught a whiff of Stiles' scent again. The incessant burn flared again and I tried to breathe through my mouth but then I could taste his scent in the air and it made me so thirsty. "Uh, Stiles?" I moaned as my teeth shot past my lips so fast I nearly drooled. I covered my mouth and nose. Derek and Scott leaped in front of Stiles, but he just looked at me as blotches bloomed on his cheeks. "Your scent!" I said, muffled. A second later the breeze changed again, this time it brought the scent of the deer herd. They were headed further into the woods by the sound of it. "I'll be right back!" I yelled as I jumped up before any of them could say a word. I leaped 30 yards off the porch and hit the ground running. It took only seconds for me to reach them about 200 yards away. I let my mind go blank as I circled the herd to look for my target. They scrambled along a trail on a steep hill and perched on a large boulder up above them, was the cougar. I continued to circle behind and ghosted up a tree about 20 yards behind it. I jumped. The cougar managed to claw my stomach once with its back paws before I sank my teeth into its neck.

Five minutes later the blaze in my throat was nothing but a dull smolder- much more manageable. I began my trek back to where I had left the boys. I followed the sound of their voices to what had once been a magnificent colonial but was now nothing but a burned-out shell of its former glory. How sad, I thought and wondered about its story until I heard them as they argued about my sudden departure. Stiles was upset that neither Derek nor Scott had immediately gone after me. Derek argued that I had nowhere to go and that I'd said I'd be back and taunted Stiles that he just liked how I'd moaned his name. I frowned and tsk-ed. Now that embarrassed me more than anything else that had happened so far. "Gimme a break! It's not my fault I don't know what's going on. I'm doing my best to control whatever this is," I grumbled to myself still on the other side of the house.

Scott, who had played peacekeeper between the other two, stopped short and said quietly, "Whoa. She heard you."

Whoa, he heard me? Just great. Flustered, I took a deep breath, decided to play dumb, and popped my head around the corner of the porch. "I'm back," I announced. I felt a smile creep up my cheek at the look of relief that flitted across Stiles' face. "No worries!" I said. As I came around fully onto the porch, I watched as his small smile turned into a look of shock. All three of them rushed towards me with the same wide-eyed look.

"What happened? Are you ok?!" Stiles exclaimed.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that," I tried to sound nonchalant about the whole thing. "Since I woke up, ya know, my throat feels drier than the Atacama Desert. When the wind changed and I caught your, uh, scent," I could feel my nonchalance already take flight as the blaze in my cheeks grew but I barreled on. "It just... seems that when I smell... you in particular... it feels like I've tried to quench my thirst with Carolina Pepper juice. The, uh, the rats helped a little and so instead of attacking you (again) I tracked down that mountain lion and- what are you looking at?" It was obvious they hadn't listened to a word I'd rambled as they'd stared from my face to my midsection the whole time. I looked down at myself. "Oh!"

This was the first time I'd paid any attention to what I was wearing. A dirty blue t-shirt with a cartoon yellow submarine in the middle of the chest and faded black skinny jeans, and classic black Chuck Taylors. What had thoroughly distracted the guys, however, was what was left of what I wore. The cougar had managed to shred the front of my shirt to reveal my once fair skin and the eight angry, welted wounds that were clearly recently-healed claw marks. They spanned from the bottom of my sternum down to three inches below my bellybutton and each one was probably seven inches long. Dried blood caked the tattered ends of my shirt and crusted the top of my jeans; the button had been ripped off and the jeans were only staying up by the power of the zipper. My shoes were the only things that had come out unscathed. I crossed my arms over my middle in an attempt to cover myself up. I wasn't a prude, per se, but I had a level of modesty that had my face burning redder than ever. (I hadn't thought that was possible, but here we were.)

"Well, I'm not giving her my jacket," said Derek, like he thought I might ruin it as well.

I looked up and saw Scott and Stiles look at each other blankly before comprehension dawned on them.

"Uh, here," said Scott as he made to pull off his jersey.

"Oh, keep your shirt on!" Stiles rolled his eyes. He took his hoodie off and put it over my shoulders.

"Thanks," I mumbled shyly.

"Besides," he quipped as he backed up to where Derek and Scott still stood, "she thinks you two stink."

"Well now, that's not... what I meant was... when I said..." I sputtered as I quickly shoved my arms in and zipped it up to the bottom of the yellow submarine to cover the worst of the damage. It hung down to the middle of my thighs and the cuffs dangled inches past my fingertips. It made me look like a child and it smelled incredible but the meal of mountain lion blood seemed to hold back the flames in my throat to a bearable level. I rolled up the sleeves so that I could use my hands.

"No worries," he said, and gave me a sort of half-smile.

Scott cleared his throat and waved the phone in his hand back and forth, "Shall we?"

"Yes, please," said an impatient voice on the other end.

"Sorry, Lydia, there's a lot going on here!" Scott said as he raised the phone to his ear. "I'm putting it on speaker now," said Scott. Then he lowered the phone, tapped the screen, held the phone out, and they stepped closer but I stayed several paces away from the others.

"So, what do we know? What have you observed?" We could hear pages of a book being turned.

"Well, she's pretty sure her name is Emma Watson. She can't remember anything. I don't know if the memory loss is a 'symptom', though. Her heart beats only every once in a while. She's strong, fast, and has heightened senses that may even be beyond Scott and I's. But she's clumsy like she doesn't know her limits and abilities. She's consumed animal blood twice already but clearly wants Stiles'." Derek answered for us.

I stared at him and blinked.

"Geeze, Derek, tell us what you really think," Stiles frowned at Derek's bluntness.

Derek shrugged, "Just sharing what I've observed. We want to figure this out, right? So we share all the facts."

"Why can't you remember anything?" asked another voice. "I'm Allison, by the way."

"I don't know. The only thing I found on me was some kind of black, onyx-looking crystal thing in my pocket. Stiles looked at it..." I replied. I looked to him to explain what he thought of it.

"It just looks like a cut piece of onyx to me," informed Stiles.

"Send us a pic, Scott" Lydia said.

Scott held his hand out to me. I dug the crystal back out of my pocket and handed it to him.

Everyone was silent as Scott took a picture of the crystal in his palm and sent it to the girls on the other end.

"What do you remember last?" asked Allison.

I liked her; she seemed genuinely nice. I blew out a breath. "Um," I closed my eyes and searched the blackness that used to be my memories. After a minute of silence, I opened my eyes. "Nothing," I sighed.

"That's not helpful," said Lydia.

"Sorry."

"She can't help it, Lydia."

My sluggish heart lurched at Allison's defense. She didn't even know me.

"Found it!" exclaimed Lydia.


	4. Transition

Chapter 4: Transition

"What's it say?" I asked eagerly.

"Well, it's going to take me a minute here- Archaic Latin isn't a walk in the park!" she retorted.

"She can read Archaic Latin?" I asked so that she couldn't hear.

"Yeah, it's a hidden talent that came in useful a while ago," murmured Scott.

"Hmm," she wasn't a warm person but her knowledge impressed me, "she's like Sherlock Holmes. Maybe she's a high-functioning sociopath, too," I said to myself. The guys with super hearing looked over at me, and then I realized what I had said. "Hey! I remembered Sherlock!" I shouted and jumped on the balls of my feet. I was so excited to have remembered something.

"Great!" said Lydia, not sounding at all enthusiastic, "still doesn't exactly help us though."

"Killjoy," I muttered. The guys chuckled.

She sighed and translated slowly, "Ok, it says:

"'Vampires are created when a person who has consumed vampire blood in some way (whether by drinking it, having it poured in an open wound, or being injected with it) and has subsequently died with it in their system. The person will be revived as an undead vampire, just like the vampire who sired them, or their 'Alpha'.

The exact nature of the person's death is irrelevant to this process. The only condition that must be met is that the body has to be more-or-less intact and able to function once they reawaken in Transition. Most fatal injuries, such as snapped necks, slit throats, stab wounds, and shattered bones from falls will be healed before the fledgling vampire awakens.

To complete Transition into a vampire, the person must then consume a significant amount of human blood. Vampires can only feed on human blood to successfully complete the transition- animal blood or vampire blood is not enough to finish the transformation from human to vampire, though once they complete this process, they can then choose to feed on blood from other sources, such as the blood of animals, or even that of other vampires.

Until the person drinks human blood to complete Transition, they will not be susceptible to the standard weaknesses of the species.

Vampire Weaknesses:

1.) Bloodlust- once they are turned, a vampire is consumed with bloodlust and must feed on blood from either humans or animals to survive.

2.) A dead human's blood- large quantities can paralyze a vampire and cause wounds that are slow to heal.

3.) Decapitation.' That one's self-explanatory," she muttered.

"'4.) The sun is not deadly but can cause a nasty sunburn. Vampires prefer to sleep during the day.

5.) Angelic touch- Angels can burn vampires from the inside out with a touch, killing them.'"

Everyone remained quiet a moment to absorb the new reality that angels existed.

Lydia cleared her throat and continued, "'6.) Burning saffron, skunk's cabbage, and trillium will block a vampire's scent-tracking ability.

7.) Vervain- in any form will severely burn and incapacitate a vampire. Amulets worn holding this herb or drinking a vervain tea will prevent a vampire from being able to use their compulsion abilities and will incapacitate them if they try to drink the tea-drinker's blood.

8.) Something called 'Vamptonite'?" said Lydia doubtfully. "It says it's made of 'the blood of humans which has been poisoned by the Leviathan food additive which is fatal to any vampire who ingests it. This is also effective if the blood is injected directly from a syringe.

They do not require an invitation to enter a home and are not repelled by garlic or crosses. This is a myth. They also prefer to live in packs in locations called 'nests', and will mate for life.'"

"'Alphas?' 'Packs?' Sounds like another species we know," sighed Allison good-naturedly, a smile clearly in her voice.

"Tell me about it," said Stiles and Lydia at the same time.

"What?" I questioned, but Lydia cut in.

"Excuse me but I'm not done. There's quite a bit more." She continued,"'Vampire Strengths:

1.) Superior strength,

2.) speed,

3.) senses- they can see in complete darkness and can hear and smell from great distances- as far as several miles away.

4.) Retractable fangs,

5.) accelerated healing,

6.) immortal/unchanging, and

7.) mind compulsion.' There's a note here; it says, 'Avoid eye contact.'" Lydia continued suspiciously.

"'Every vampire that has ever existed is descended from those of their kind who are known as the 'Original Vampires', who, unlike the majority of vampires, were turned not by dying with vampire blood in their system, but instead were transformed with a powerful spell fueled by dark magic that was cast at some point around 1001 AD in what is now modern-day Mystic Falls, Virginia. This connects all vampires to one of the six Original vampires from whom they are descended by a bloodline connection. Because of this link, the death of an Original vampire will result in this connection being severed, and every vampire in the deceased Original's bloodline will follow them in death within an hour.'"

"So that's it- you're in 'Transition'," said Stiles. "Assuming you were walking down the road and hit by the car you mentioned, you must have-," he faltered, looking less joyful and more regretful.

"Died," I finished in a hollow voice.

"Why does everyone keep interrupting me? I wasn't finished. Did I sound like I was finished?" asked Lydia. And before anyone could respond, she said the best news I'd heard all day. "'A cure for vampirism exists, but only if the vampire has not yet drunk human blood. The person must drink a mixture that includes the blood of the vampire that turned them.'" Lydia took a breath, "And then it lists off some weird stuff to make the mixture."

"Let me see that," said Allison's voice. She was mumbling to herself for several seconds before she let out a breathy laugh. "Emma, I recognize all these ingredients and I know where to get them!"


	5. Death at Sea

Chapter 5: Death at Sea

"But how are we supposed to find the vampire who bit her?" asked Scott.

"Why can't she remember anything?" asked Stiles.

"Where did she come from?" asked Derek.

"Why did she have vampire blood in her system in the first place?" asked Lydia.

"How are we only just finding out about vampires?" asked Allison.

"Where can I get a shower and some fresh clothes?" I asked. Everyone present looked at me. I shrugged, "You guys asked all the good questions."

They looked at me and after a second Stiles and Scott chuckled. Derek struggled to hide a smirk, Allison giggled, and Lydia breathed air out of her nose a little faster than normal. The tension broke.

"Look, what I heard was that I'll kind of be okay as long as I don't drink human blood, right? I want this cure and I will owe you all my life if you help me. But until then, I have nowhere to go." The guys just looked at each other and the girls were quiet. "Gee, don't all volunteer at once," I grumbled. "I'd stay at a cheap motel but even cheap ones take money, and I don't think onyx sells for much. I'm not staying with any of the guys," I said motioning with my hand to indicate the males in front of me, "that leaves..." I rolled my wrist to indicate the girls on the other end of the phone.

"I'm sorry, Emma, but you can't stay with me," said Allison. To her credit, she sounded genuinely regretful. "It's just, ya know, I'm human and my family are hunters. You should stay far away from me and my family for your own safety."

"Okay," I said slowly, not quite sure what her family hobbies had to do with anything...I mean, maybe if I were a vegetarian or a vegan...

After a full minute of silence, Lydia finally spoke up. "I'll drop Allison off at home then I'll come by and get you," she sighed.

"Can't wait," I said dryly.

"We're at Hale House," Scott spoke up.

"Wonderful," she said, a little disgusted, and hung up.

"I'm grateful, I am, but is she always like that?" I asked the group at large.

"Yes," they chorused.

"But she grows on you," said Stiles fondly.

I felt a pang of jealousy but chose to ignore it; what claim did I have to any of these people? We stood around in silence for a minute before Stiles moved to sit on the top step sideways. He stretched out his legs and leaned against the porch post. Derek and Scott sat down on the steps as though they were bleachers and they were waiting for a game to begin. I made my way over to the edge of the porch and leaned against the opposite side of the post as Stiles. I sat with one leg bent and the other hung over the edge, my foot dangled down but did not reach the ground. The light started to get to me so I pulled the hood up and closed my eyes. I registered the stir of Stiles' scent and Mmmed at its deliciousness. I was delighted to find that the fire barely stirred in my throat. Maybe being constantly surrounded by his scent had made me a little nose-blind. Then a thought occurred to me. "So, Lydia isn't human?" I asked as I turned so that both of my legs now dangled over the porch edge behind Stiles' back. They all glanced at each other but didn't answer. "Oh brother. What is she, a werewolf?" I chuckled at my joke.

"Not Lydia," mumbled Stiles.

"Wait, what?" my grin fell away.

"We are," said Scott as he gestured between himself and Derek.

I was silent for a minute while I chewed that over. "Of course you are," I sighed. "That's why you kept talking about my scent," I looked at Derek, then I turned to Scott, "and how you heard me grumbling from the other side of the house." I forgot I was pretending I hadn't heard and blushed.

"Oh, sorry about that," mumbled Derek.

"Don't worry about him too much, Emma. Giving me a hard time is one of Derek's favorite past times," said Stiles.

I smiled, but my brow soon furrowed. I cleared my throat, "So what is Lydia that protects her from me?"

"A banshee," said Scott and Stiles.

"Excuse my ignorance, but you're gonna have to help me out here- what is a banshee?" I queried.

"They usually warn of impending death by wailing but more often than not she's accidentally lead us to already dead bodies. She's getting better, though," Stiles offered.

I thought for a minute about the 3 hours of my whole life that I could remember and the path it seemed I was on to my future. Is this real life? Is this my life now? "Does that- is it very- I mean, is it a regular thing for you guys? Finding dead bodies...?"

"Let's just say it's not as rare as we'd like it to be," said Derek dryly.

"Super," I groaned. "Car's coming," I said after we had lapsed into silence again. Five minutes later a pretty little blue car pulled up and parked, but Lydia didn't get out. "I guess that's my ride?" I asked the guys.

"I think we should do a scent test, just to be sure," suggested Stiles.

"K," I shrugged. I hopped down the several inches to the ground. One foot landed on a rock and my ankle rolled to the side. I crumbled mostly on my hands and twisted ankle but stood back up quickly like I had intended it all along. I dusted myself off and made my way to the driver's side window. After a few seconds, the window lowered.

"What?" she asked shortly, eyeing my appearance with clear distaste.

"Um, they want me to, uh, smell you to see if there's going to be an issue," I answered feeling stupid and embarrassed.

She sighed and held out her hand palm side up. I stepped forward and sniffed her wrist. Underneath the aroma of expensive perfume and moisturizer was what I could only describe as 'Death at Sea'. I jerked my head away as my throat constricted as though to protect me from even thinking about trying to bite her. I struggled to take an even breath.

I released her wrist and she withdrew it with a clipped, "We good?"

"Yup," I gagged discreetly and turned to walk around the car to get in. I breathed in through my nose and out of my mouth.

Stiles caught me on my way around. "You look a little green," he said so Lydia wouldn't hear. "You ok?"

Just thinking of the scent made my gag reflex twitch. I took a few more slow breaths before replied, "No worries, she'll be safe from me."

"That's good, but are you ok?"

"I'll be- I'm fine. Thank you, Stiles," I smiled and felt my face heat up. I couldn't put it off anymore and made my way around to the passenger door, Stiles right beside me. He leaned around me to open the door, but I stood in the way.

"Oh!" I said and stepped out of the way.

"My bad," he said at the same time.

"Can we go already?" Lydia spoke up through the open door. "Flirt later, Stiles, we're leaving now."

My eyes darted to Stiles' and I knew my face was beet-red. I gave him an awkward smile and we said goodbye. I took a deep breath of fresh air and got in. "You're rude, did you know that?" I said. "And this window is going down," I said as I pushed the button to lower it before I had even shut the door.

Halfway down it stopped. "No it's not," stated Lydia. "It messes up my hair and makes it stick to my lipgloss." Then she used the child safety switch to override my window button and rolled it back up.

I looked out of the window at Stiles. I felt trapped and a little panicky. 'Help me!' I mouthed. But he just laughed like I was being ridiculous. I frowned at him, 'Traitor!' He continued to laugh as Lydia sped away.


	6. Not Your Barbie Doll

Chapter 6: I'm Not Your Barbie Doll

I unrolled my right sleeve, propped my elbow on the armrest, and covered my mouth and nose as I cupped my chin in my now sleeve-covered hand. I then leaned as far away from Lydia as I could.

When we reached the main road she finally spoke. "Here's what's going to happen, Emma," she enunciated my name as though it annoyed her. "We're going to go to my house and you are going to take a shower while I burn those clothes-," she stopped short when I interjected.

"You will not burn Stiles' hoodie. I forbid it." It was the only reason I hadn't already retched all over her pristine interior. "Besides, between you burning it and me just giving it back to Stiles, I'd rather give it back to Stiles. Sheesh, drama much?" I rolled my eyes.

She ignored my outburst and continued, "I will lend you something and then we will get you cleaned up properly."

"You already said I'll be taking a shower..." I said confused. What more did I need?

"Sweetie," she wrinkled her nose, "you need more than just a shower."

Rude. I glared at her and my lip curled.

With a laugh and a wave of her hand, she dismissed my anger as if I was no more of a threat than an angry kitten. "Have you seen what you look like?" She thought a second, "No, I suppose there aren't any mirrors in that haunted house of Derek's... Just trust me. If you're going to be spending time with me you're going to have to look the part and not embarrass me." I couldn't think of anything to say so I just gaped stupidly at the audacity this girl had to speak to a complete stranger like that. What was more, she seemed to be offended that I didn't have a thicker skin to put up with her blunt remarks. "Look, you're probably not hard on the eyes once you get cleaned up… properly, I mean."

"That is the saddest attempt at a compliment I have ever heard," I growled.

"In all your few hours of memories, you mean?" she said snidely like she thought I was lying and she was trying to call my bluff.

"Yes, well in my few hours I've apparently met real monsters, learned I could become one myself, and you are still, by far, the worst!" I said through clenched teeth. I turned my back on Lydia and glared out of the window as I struggled to breathe normally. I concentrated on Stiles scent and the slow burn it brought to my throat. Angry tears pricked my eyes when I heard her sigh happily.

"You know, I like you when you're sassy," she said, a smile in her voice.

"Well, what can I say, Lydia? You bring out the worst in me," I growled back but refused to look at her.

"I can't stand goody-goodies; sassy you is better," she shrugged.

I blinked and turned to look at her incredulously, "You baited me on purpose? Just to get a rise out of me?!" Was she for real?

She gave me a side glance, "Speaking of getting a 'rise'... so, Stiles, huh?" she asked brazenly.

My eyes widened and my face flushed at her implication, but all I could manage to do was sputter uselessly.

Lydia rolled her eyes, "Oh my God! You're a prude, too?!" We pulled up to a gorgeous modern mansion and before I could form a coherent rebuttal she opened her door and threw over her shoulder, "I'm seriously on the verge of thinking you're hopeless again," she groused.

I shut my mouth since it was of no use to me and just glared after her as she marched up to the front door and let herself in. I took my time and dragged myself in behind her; I dreaded what the rest of the day had in store.

"Come on," she said as she climbed the stairs. I followed her to her room (which smelled like warm apple pie) and into her private bathroom. She pointed in different directions as she listed off the items I would need like towels and washcloths. There were even new toothbrushes and razors for guests and an assortment of body lotions to choose from. "Just throw your clothes in the garbage-," I gave her a stern look and she sighed, "and you can hang Stiles' hoodie on a hanger on the back of the door. I promise I won't touch it." Then she left and shut the door behind her.

I refused to look at any of the mirrors as I took off my clothes and did as she instructed. With my shirt off I looked down at the perfect, blemish-free skin of my abdomen. I removed my ruined jeans and black Converse shoes. The shoes weren't in bad condition at all so I set them aside and put my crystal into the toe of one shoe to keep it safe. Then, I stepped into the luxurious shower. I turned the water on and quickly fell in love. It had wide slit-like jets at all different angles and heights that alone would blast the most stubborn dirt off (which was apparently exactly what I needed). I got the water as hot as I could stand it and scrubbed every inch of my skin with a vanilla and cinnamon body wash until it was nearly raw. I washed my hair twice and used Lydia's deep conditioning hair mask. I managed to shave every spare hair that I could see. Then I turned the hot water off and allowed the cold water to rush over me until I shook so hard I struggled to grasp the shower handle to turn off the water. I opened the door and stepped out onto the bath rug as I grabbed the towel I had hung on the hook right beside the shower door. There were a few small twigs, leaf bits, and grass in the drain that I scooped up and tossed in the trash on top of what was left of my clothes. I dried off and wrung as much water from my hair as I could before I headed to the vanity to brush my teeth and smooth some Sugar and Spice scented lotion on. Finally, I wrapped the towel around myself and shyly stepped out to see what Lydia had in store for me.

An array of outfits laid out on her bed paired with shoes on the floor and even handbags. Can we say 'overkill'? I thought. She had blessedly opened all of her windows to keep a steady flow of fresh air and I was touched at the gesture. Maybe she wasn't so bad. It made breathing in the same room with her possible without the mask of Stiles' hoodie. She had turned from her closet when I had come out. I realized as I had wearily eyed all of the options she had for me, she had eyed me from head to toe. "What?" I asked unenthusiastically. I did not need another stab at my appearance.

"You have a great foundation," she said. She sounded surprised.

"I'll try not to be offended by your shock," I said sarcastically.

"Good," she said, "now come on." She sat me down at her vanity where she had an insane amount of makeup laid out.

When I sat down in front of a tremendous lighted mirror, I finally looked at my own reflection. My wet hair hung down past the seat of the vanity bench and was a honey color. My eyebrows had once been groomed but the sporadic growth of lone hairs proved I hadn't kept up the maintenance. There was a small scar across the apex of my left eyebrow where hairs didn't grow at all. My lashes were fairly long and thick. My eyes were mostly a pretty, olive green but I could see a stroke of blue here and a speck of gold there that made me think of marble or granite. A smattering of freckles lay across the bridge of my nose and onto the apples of my cheeks. I had a lean but soft face and my lips were a pretty rose color and decently plump. I'm pretty, I thought. My cheeks pinked, pleased at the realization. But I only had a second to take in my face before Lydia blocked my view with tweezers in hand. "Wait, Lydia!" I started, but she grabbed my chin and turned me this way and that to pluck out every hair from my face that offended her. Then she rubbed creams and oils to soothe the sting in my skin. Next, she sponged and 'contoured' and blended and blended and blended. Then she added color to my eyelids and cheeks and then the accentuation of eyeliner and mascara. Lastly, she painted my lips a rose color just a shade darker than my natural hue.

"Is all of this really necessary?" I whined.

"This is 'looking the part', remember?" she said as she put the final touches on my face with a setting spray. Finally, she stepped aside with a "Voilà!" She seemed quite proud of herself.

I stared at the flawless paint job. It was a drastic difference from the bare, natural beauty I'd first seen.

"You don't like it," she accused me.

I shrugged apologetically, "It's just- it's not really my face, is it? I look weird."

"No, Honey, you look good," she corrected.

"No, I mean, yes. I'm not saying it looks bad it's just-," I struggled to explain, "It's not really me. I mean, I wouldn't want someone to see my natural face and think I looked off or sick without makeup. Like, thanks but no thanks." She just stared at me. "I just don't see the benefits to that kind of negativity in my life. If they don't like me for me, then I don't need them."

She narrowed her eyes, "We'll just have to agree to disagree on this, Emma. Now, let's look at clothes so we can go fix your hair, I've already made you an emergency appointment with my stylist..."

"What?! Lydia, this is ridiculous!" I stomped my foot but her carpet was so plush it only made a muffled flump.

She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Looking. The. Part. Ok?" she said each word like it was its own sentence. "Now, let's see what we have to work with," she said and grabbed the edge of my towel and attempted to pull it from me.

"Hey! I don't have clothes on!" I exclaimed as I clutched the towel with a grip that conveyed that she would have to cut it out of my hands to get it from me.

"Ugh! Prudes!" she growled before she stomped over to her dresser and pulled out a silvery-gray two-piece set of lace-trimmed cotton bralette and boy shorts still with the tags on. "I bought these last week. I haven't worn them yet, happy?" she groused.

"Look, Lydia, I appreciate everything you're doing-,"

"Well you have a funny way of showing it," she snapped.

"But I'm not your Barbie doll! I'm a human being… sort of," I said, "and I have feelings and likes and dislikes!"

"Fine," she rolled her eyes, "I'll take your feelings and things into consideration, just stop fighting me every step of the way."

I considered her for a moment. "I did not fight you on the shower," I said as I lifted my chin and held my hand out for the bralette and boy shorts. When she handed them over, I turned around and awkwardly pulled on the underwear while the towel draped over my shoulders and covered me down to my knees. I struggled to get the bralette over my head and pulled down as I also tried to keep the towel up and my hair out of them both. After several failed attempts, I sighed in defeat. Keeping my back to Lydia, I straightened up and the towel fell down to pool at my feet. The bralette was twisted at my collarbone with my hair wrapped up inside. I worked it down and tugged my still damp hair out before I turned around.

"I'll take pity on you," Lydia said rolling her eyes to hide the smirk on her lips. "Pick out your outfit from what I've got here," she gestured to the four outfits laid out on her bed.

There was a form-fitting, low-cut short yellow dress with 3 inch red heels and an amber handbag.

There was a flowy skirt that was a pretty green color that I thought matched my eyes nicely paired with a black clingy, scoop neck top, a cropped denim jacket, over-the-knee boots with a 1 inch heel and a black leather handbag that matched.

Then another dress; this one had a navy blue skirt and a silky white bust, nude 3 inch heels, and a nude handbag.

Finally, there was a high-waisted, black leather miniskirt with a red crop top, black leather jacket, red ankle boots and thigh high opaque black stockings with a crimson handbag.

"I'm going to look so extra, but I guess I'll do the second outfit there," I pointed at the flowy skirt.

"Wonderful," she said, ignoring my jab, "now, get dressed so we can go!"

My stomach gave a growl, "Fine but we're stopping to get something to eat first," I said as I walked over to the bed and started to pull on the articles.

"Watch the makeup!" Lydia warned.

"Yes, Lydia," rolled my eyes but continued more carefully. A few minutes later I stood in front of a full-length mirror. I admired Lydia's work but I still felt ridiculous. The skirt was shorter than I'd thought and landed about 6 inches above my knees and the scoop neck top was so low, the bralette showed as if it were a layered top. "I don't know whether to pull the top up or pull the skirt down," I blushed as I reached up to do just that. "Do you have a skirt longer than this?" I asked as I tugged it down a little more so that it was just a few inches above my knees. "And is this top supposed to go this low?" I pulled it up a little higher. I could still see about two inches of the lace from the bralette as it peeked over the neckline of the clingy black top she had paired with this outfit. Fortunately, for me, the jacket covered quite a bit.

"Nuh-uh, the deal was you got to pick out of the offered outfits and you picked this one." She walked over and set the skirt and top straight again. She had already had to relent on the boots when we realized my feet swam around in her size 7s. She had to settle with the black thigh-high opaque stockings from the fourth outfit and my size 5 Converse. "Now quit fidgeting, you look great."

My stomach growled again. "Can we go now?"

"Yes, yes. You almost look the part," she said, "for now I'll put your hair in a messy bun." After she was finished, she turned to smile next to me in the mirror as though we were posed for a picture. I smiled, albeit nervously when out of nowhere she brought up her phone and snapped a selfie with me. She glanced at the clock on her night stand then continued as if nothing happened. "We should have time to eat before your hair and nail appointments."

"You only said hair before, you didn't say anything about nails!"

She patted my shoulder and said, "You will look the part in just a few more hours!"

"Hours?! Lydia!"

"Emma!" She mocked me. "Just think how fast Stiles will turn his head when he sees you! He'll probably crick his neck. You'll be quite the shock to his system," she teased me.

"Shut up," I grumbled at my shoes. I could feel the heat in my face at the thought of what Stiles would think of me in this get up, but doubted anyone would be able to tell under all the product layered over my actual skin- Hey! silver lining, I smirked to myself.

"There, see?" she mistook my smirk for compliance. "And don't slouch! You nearly look the part, now own it! Head up, shoulders back, stand like you're 5"1'!"

"I'm 5"2'."

"That's right, be proud!"

I couldn't help it, I laughed out loud, and it felt good.

"See? This will be fun!" she said enthusiastically.

"Yeah, ok. Sure," I chuckled, still not quite convinced.

Lydia sighed indulgently, "Oh, come on, Barbie, let's go party!"


	7. A Shock to His System

Chapter 7: A Shock To His System

I managed to get into Lydia's car without flashing my underwear. I slid into the seat and the skirt rode up my thighs several inches. I stretched my legs and pulled the flowy material back towards my knees and lay Stiles' hoodie across my lap. Lydia made it clear the windows were to stay up again so I had to have my buffer. To placate Lydia, I told her I wouldn't touch it to my face. I giggled when I pictured handing it back to Stiles with a reverse image of my painted face on it. I had purposely left the black leather handbag by the vanity because the only thing I had anyway was the crystal and it was safely in the buttoned chest pocket of the denim jacket.

"So what do you feel like eating for lunch - besides Stiles?" asked Lydia as she gracefully slipped into the driver's seat. I groaned and nearly had my face in my hands when she stopped me with a sharp, "Makeup!"

"Good grief, Lydia. Will you please stop talking about him like that? It's just going to make seeing him again super awkward and I can pull awkward off all by myself," I begged.

"But then Sassy Emma will die a lonely death inside her prudish prison," replied Lydia as though she was actually concerned for the well being of my apparent alter-ego.

I rolled my eyes and tried to ignore her. "Burger and fries. Rare."

Lydia wrinkled her nose a little but relented, "I know just the place."

A few minute's drive later we pulled up to a little building that clearly sold the very food I craved. I sat as close to the door as I could again, careful to breathe in the aroma without touching my face. As soon as we stopped I rolled the window down as fast as the little motor would allow. Lydia ignored me as her eyes swept the near-empty parking lot as though looking for something. A second later a smile touched her lips but disappeared so fast that I had doubts I had even seen it.

"Let's go in and eat," she said as she opened her door and left no room for discussion.

"Okay," I said to myself as she had already shut the door and made her way around the car to wait for me. I opened the door and tried to make my exit in a short skirt look as natural as Lydia had. We headed in and up to the counter to order. If there had been a lunchtime rush, it was clearly passed. It was just us, a man and his teenage son in one of the little booths who sat waiting for their order number to be called, and a group of teens. The group had risen and gathered their things to leave as soon as the door shut behind us. I held my breath as they passed and didn't breathe again until the door had closed behind them. Lydia ordered a grilled chicken wrap with the dressing on the side and a diet soda then stepped aside for me to place my order with the bored-looking girl popping her gum. There was only her at the register and one cook in the back that I could hear as he moved around.

"Hi, can I have a burger- rare, like really rare, a medium curly fry, and water?" I asked.

The girl sighed, "We aren't allowed to do 'rare'. Everything has to be 'well-done'. It's company policy," she said as though this was obvious and I was stupid.

My jaw tightened and my eyes flashed; I despised rudeness. "But aren't the customers always right?" I asked sweetly. I saw a smile slowly wind up Lydia's cheek out of the corner of my eye.

The girl popped her gum and sniffed with a smirk, "No."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before I looked her in the eyes. Her pupils dilated and her face went slack when I said slowly and firmly, "Make my burger extremely rare. Please." Just because she was rude, didn't mean I had to be.

She nodded and said, "Ok...extremely rare burger...my pleasure," before she pushed the cash register buttons and gave Lydia the total and our order number card.

As the girl walked away to put the other customer's order together on a tray, Lydia dropped her arm around me conspiratorially. "Hello, Sassy Emma!" she whispered gleefully and pulled me over to the side.

I ignored her, "Was that- did I just do that 'compulsion' thing?"

"I think so," she said. Behind us, the girl called the other order and the boy got up to get it.

"What did it feel like?" she asked. She turned us so we wouldn't be overheard.

"It made me feel...powerful?" I said meekly. "I wanted her to feel powerless because no one should be treated like that. It made me mad," I paused, "Oh God, I'm a terrible person!" I whispered distraughtly.

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes as she nudged me with her hip. "You're like a church mouse or something."

I just pursed my lips and was saved by the cashier calling our order. Lydia went to fetch the tray with our food and I was soon distracted by the conversation in the little booth about four feet away.

"Did she forget my curly fries?" asked the father.

"You're not supposed to have the fries, especially the curly ones," retorted the son. He sounded familiar...

"I am carrying a lethal weapon. If I want the curly fries, I will have the curly fries," said the father around a mouthful of food.

"If you think getting rid of contractions in all of your sentences makes your argument any more legitimate, then you are wrong."

I stifled a giggle as Lydia came up beside me.

"Where should we sit?" she asked, then before I could even open my mouth she continued to walk straight to the occupied booth. "Oh look who's here!" (She didn't sound surprised at all.) "Good afternoon Sheriff Stilinski, Stiles. How are you?"

I stood behind her and died a little inside as all the jibes that she had thrown at me that day echoed in my head. Both of them turned to look up at Lydia. The Sheriff swallowed his bite and wiped his mouth before he responded. "Lydia Martin, hello! We're just fine, and yourself?"

"Oh, we are doing just lovely, aren't we, Emma?" she said as she sidestepped to expose me for the chicken I was.

Stiles (I think 'ogled' would be the best word to use here) my painted face and I could practically feel his eyes on me as they moved down to take in the denim cropped jacket, the peek-a-boo lace under the clingy top, the mid-thigh length skirt, opaque stockings, down to my Converse, which caused the insulting shock to give way to an adorable half-smile. I looked away from Stiles to the sheriff before he caught me watching him as he checked me out.

"Sheriff, this is Emma Watson, she just moved here. Stiles and I are welcoming her into the Beacon Hills fold. Would it be ok if we join you?" chirped Lydia.

The sheriff cleared his throat and wiped his hands on his napkin before he attempted to stand with the tops of his thighs pressed into the underside of the booth table. He held out his now clean hand to shake my own, "Emma Watson, nice to meet you. Welcome to Beacon Hills. Yes, please won't you join us?" He gestured with his free hand to the little booth.

I shook his hand and said, "Hello, Sheriff. It's nice to meet you," while Lydia swooped into the spot beside the Sherriff, her legs angled out from under the booth, and left me to sit beside Stiles. I sat down and then swung my legs under the table as I concentrated on keeping the skirt down. My heart gave another lurch and I could feel Stiles' eyes as he stared at me. I plastered a smile on my face as I internally threw daggers at Lydia across from me. She just smiled serenely and passed me my food and water. The heat turned on and Stiles' scent washed over me like a warm summer breeze. I relaxed a little despite the burn in my throat. I swallowed thickly before I finally turned to almost meet Stiles' eye but I couldn't do it, so I stared at a freckle instead as I said quietly, "Hello, Stiles."

Those cute roses bloomed in his cheeks as he breathed out a "'lo, Emma." I smiled shyly as he continued to stare at me.

I pressed my lips together when the sheriff kicked him under the table as he said loudly, "So, 'Emma Watson'- like the actress?"

"Um, yeah. I guess so," I said and glanced at Stiles again when I remembered that he had mentioned it earlier at Hale House.

"I bet that name turns some heads," said the sheriff.

I shrugged. "I don't think I've ever really been one to turn heads before," I said as I picked up my burger.

Stiles watched my every move. The sheriff watched his son as he watched me. "Maybe you just missed them," he smiled.

I didn't know what to say to that so I took my first bite. Stiles opened his mouth to speak but when I closed my eyes and moaned in bliss, he stuffed in a few fries instead and turned away. "Mmm!" I chewed slowly to savor the flavor and finally swallowed. "This is the best burger I've had in..." l faltered, "Well, in as long as I can remember!" Stiles choked on his mouthful of fries and Lydia snickered behind her hand. The sheriff looked between them; he missed the joke, and so continued to eat his plain, well-done burger. I took another bite as red juices dripped from the backside of the paddy and onto the wrapper.

"Is that burger...bleeding?" asked the sheriff, a little jealous if I had to guess.

Everyone looked at the puddle on the wrapper in front of me. "I, uh, like my burger with a little 'moo' in it," I mumbled. Stiles and Lydia chuckle again.

"They aren't supposed to sell rare burgers; it's against the company policy. I know because that's how I like my burgers and they tell me that every time I ask..." he groused. "How'd you get one?"

Lydia chimed in, "Well, Emma can be very persuasive, can't you Emma?" she smirked as she took a delicate bite of her wrap.

I was still uncomfortable with the idea of being in transition. "Yes, I suppose you could say that," I said. I shifted in the seat and caused Stiles' and my thighs to touch. I stopped as my face started to burn.

"But how can you eat something like that?" asked Stiles, trying to be discrete but just coming across as rude. The Sheriff kicked him under the table again. "Ow! I mean, ya know, rare beef...s-salmonella... I just wouldn't want you to get sick, ya know..." His cheeks bloomed again.

With that small rush of blood I was hit with his scent again, but this time I found the burn in my throat to be just a little bit less. I wanted to get past Lydia's jokes in my head so I did the only thing I knew to do; channel Sassy Emma and ride the wave. I took a deep breath, looked directly at Stiles, and smirked, "I'll be ok; I'm tougher than I look." Lydia grinned like the cat that caught the canary, clearly recognizing Sassy Emma. I took another big bite of my burger, followed by some curly fries. They didn't hit the spot like my bloody burger, but they tasted delicious. After we all finished our food, I spent the next fifteen minutes making up answers to questions about my past. Lydia passed out some minty gum while I let Sassy Emma take the lead. According to her, I was 18 years old, which turned out to be the same age as Stiles. I had moved to Beacon Hills a few days ago from a small town in Virginia but was born in another small town near Santa Barbara.

"Nothing wrong with small towns, is there, Stiles?" asked Lydia.

"Nothing I can think of," said Stiles as he crossed his arms. He bumped my shoulder in the process. "Sorry," he smiled apologetically.

"It's ok," I smiled at him, "I'll survive." This time, with Sassy Emma in control, I held his gaze.

Lydia glanced at her watch, "Oh look at the time, Emma. We need to head out if we're going to make your appointments."

"Hm?" I said, not wanting to tear my eyes away from Stiles' dark chocolate ones.

"We have to go. It's been great, Sheriff, Stiles. Thank you for letting us join you," Lydia said. She stood up, hung her handbag from her elbow, and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Oh," I blinked. I put my gum in my napkin then turned to slide my legs out. I stood up and turned back to shake the sheriff's hand again. "It was nice to meet you, Sheriff," I said, then I turned to Stiles but he had followed me out of the booth.

"Actually, we were about to head out, too, right Dad?" he said somewhat pointedly.

"Ah, well," he grunted as he also slid out, "I suppose so."

We dumped our trays of trash in the bins on our way out the door and then stopped at the end of the sidewalk.

"I've got to head back to the station, I'll see you later tonight, Stiles," he said as he squeezed his son's shoulder. "Good afternoon, ladies," he nodded and headed over to his cruiser. We watched as he got in and pulled out. He waved as he drove by. We all raised our hands in farewell.

Stiles turned around and put his hands in his pockets, "So, Emma-," he started.

"I'm sorry, Stiles, but we really do have to go," I said regretfully, "I promised Lydia."

"Oh, yeah. Ok," he nodded. "I'll walk with you," he said it like a question.

"Ok," I smiled and turned to walk towards Lydia's car.

She hit the remote to unlock it and the lights flashed. When we reached the passenger side, Stiles opened my door and I slipped in. I was almost a pro by now. He pushed the door closed with both hands and then leaned down to see both of us as Lydia started the engine.

"I guess I'll see you later," he said, his scent wafted in on a gentle breeze.

"Yeah. Later," I smiled. I felt shy again. Sassy Emma was starting to fade away.

He stood to leave but stopped with his left hand still on my door. He leaned back down, "Oh, I almost forgot," he said. He looked into my eyes as he slowly leaned forward and reached his other hand through the window.

Time simultaneously slowed down and sped up.

My eyes followed the progress of his hand as it came down near my left hip. I looked back up at him, closer than almost ever before (if you didn't count when I'd jumped him at Hale House). I called upon Sassy Emma one more time. I boldly reached up with one hand behind his head to pull his lips to mine and closed my eyes. They were warm and so soft. At first, he didn't respond but when I reached up to grip his shirt collar, he leaned further in. I felt his free hand cup my face, I heard his heart-rate skyrocket. My own heart gave a sluggish thud that belied the thrill I was feeling. He still smelled like blood and chocolate, and I could taste the mint from his gum. He filled up my senses and I gently fisted my hand in his hair. He gasped, so I let Sassy Emma drive this train wreck and deepened the kiss; I swiped my tongue past his lips. A second later, I forgot how to breathe completely when he stroked his tongue back across mine. Several blissful seconds later, I had to end the kiss or risk passing out. I slowly opened my eyes. I looked from his wide, dilated dark chocolate ones to his slightly swollen lips.

Our breaths mingled for a minute before he managed to gasp, "Wow," and blinked dazedly. He licked his lips and mumbled, "I was going to say, 'my hoodie'..."

My face drained white and then flushed red faster than a changing traffic light. I mentally punched Sassy Emma in her stupid painted face. "OhmyGod!" I breathed, "Ithoughtyouweregoingto... I'm sorry," before I realized I still gripped his hair and collar. I released him like he was on fire.

He pulled his torso back out of the car window and looked at me with wide eyes. "Oh! No, don't- I mean... I was just...it was amazing... Like, I wanted to- I didn't think you'd..." Stiles sputtered.

"Ooo," Lydia cringed. "Way to ruin the moment, Stiles."

But I was too humiliated to hear anything else. "I'm so sorry, Stiles! I don't know what came over me- what was I thinking?! Just forget it! This never happened!" I threw his hoodie out of the window and smashed the button to roll it up as I babbled. "We really have to go now. See you later! Or not, I'll just go die now." When the window was finally up I turned to Lydia, "DRIVE, Lydia!" I snapped.

To her credit, Lydia quickly waved her fingers at Stiles and pulled away.

"This is entirely your fault!"I shouted at her. "You and your stupid 'Sassy Emma'!"

She was unfazed by my anger. "I told you that you'd be a shock to his system," she said as she looked in the rearview mirror and smirked. "He's still standing there."

I groaned and buried my face in my hands, to heck with the makeup. If the setting spray wasn't strong enough to handle my breakdown, then what good was it anyway? I chewed the minty gum in my mouth and stewed at what had just happened. How had I gotten here from 10 minutes before? How would I ever be able to look Stiles in the eyes- "Wait, this isn't my gum!"


	8. My Chemical Romance

Chapter 8: My Chemical Romance

The next 5 hours were an agonizing blur. Well, at first it was just 'painful', then it grew into 'agonizing'.

The moment we walked into the hair salon the innumerable chemical smells burned my nose and stung my eyes and a dull ache started in my head. I escaped mentally as I thought about the kiss. My mind put up a wall to shut out the aftermath so that I could blissfully relive it while Lydia's stylist, Brad, worked on my hair.

While Lydia instructed him to take off 12 inches, which left me with hair about 3 inches past my shoulders, I saw Stiles as he leaned in slowly and remembered how his delicious scent washed over me...

While Brad added 'long layers', I reached up to pull Stiles' raspberry-colored, Cupid's bow lips to mine...

I tried my best to ignore the pain that began to throb in my temples when Brad brought out the perm chemicals that would lock in the Beach Waves, and instead remembered the way Stiles' soft hair felt as I ran my fingers through it. I fisted my hands in my lap as I remembered doing the same in his hair and collar to pull him closer...

While Brad blew out my now full-bodied waves, mentally I sampled Stiles' exquisite candy lips and his bubblegum tongue...

The pain that throbbed in my temples was much sharper by the time we arrived at the nail salon.

But I could taste the minty-ness of Stiles' gum as his tongue stroked mine and I bit my lip when I realized the moment his gum became mine...

While I physically sat with my hands under the dryers to seal the Square, Sport-cut, Rose colored (to match my lips), Silk French Tip nails, mentally I looked at Stiles' kiss-swollen lips and saw how dark his dilated eyes had become while I had listened to his heart race and his ragged breaths as they mixed with my own...

When we were finally on our way back to Lydia's house, the sun angled in low and bright, (I was too short for the sun visor to do me any good) which caused the sharp pain in my temples to increase to the full-on unbearable and 'agonizing' level.

I had reached the part in my memory I had tried to block out with the wall but my human brain was short-circuiting as it was overloaded by my stronger, vampire senses and the wall crumbled and allowed the mortification of the realization that Stiles had not leaned in to kiss me but to get his hoodie back and my heart squeezed painfully... I couldn't fight it anymore...

It felt like my head split open. I felt myself fall and barely registered that I hit my head on the window as Lydia called my name, then a sweet, painless black consumed me.

It seemed a mere second before I resurfaced to consciousness again. I kept my eyes closed and used my other senses to figure out where I was. Everything was quiet in my immediate vicinity, so I knew I was alone. The darkness pressed on my eyelids so I figured either there were really thick curtains or it was night. The crippling pain was completely gone; my neural connections had reset themselves, I guessed, but now a fire raged and burned in my throat. The softness that supported my horizontal body told me I was in a bed and by the blanket of expensive perfume that covered the Death-at-Sea scent, I knew it was Lydia's. She must have called someone to carry me up here. Oh God, I hope it was Scott or Derek and not... "Stiles," I croaked aloud.

Lydia must have heard me as I suddenly heard footsteps as they came up the stairs. I wanted to flee- 1. because I didn't want to face my humiliation with an audience and 2. I needed blood, like hours ago. After stuffing the pillow plunder the blanket like some sitcom kid, I moved like a shadow to the window that was mostly angled behind the door and jumped behind the curtains. I looked for the latch but she had the kind of windows that had a handle you had to crank to make them swing out and open, and then there were screens. In a blink I had the window open to its fullest extent and one of the screens was on the plush carpet at my feet. I stepped onto the windowsill as I heard her enter the room. I froze.

"Emma, are you awake?" Lydia called quietly to the lump in her bed. When she didn't hear a response from me and saw no movement she whispered, "No, still out. She's been talking in her sleep and every time she does I think she's finally woke up..." She shut the door quietly and I listened to her footsteps retreat down the hall. She must have been on the phone because I only heard one heartbeat. I turned to face the night and looked down to judge the best place to land. I picked my spot just beyond the hedge that hugged the brick house and stepped out into thin air. It felt like I had missed a step going down stairs and I landed rather wobbly. I turned to look back up at the window several feet above me, "Cool," I whispered to myself then stood- ready to hunt my next meal.


	9. A Night in the Forest

Chapter 9: A Night In the Forest

I pumped my arms and ran. It was so quiet, you'd think the place was deserted if not for the wide-spread streetlights and occasional barking dog. It took me 20 minutes to get to the edge of the little town, but I barely noticed as I marveled at the feel of the cool night wind hitting my face; the way my feet barley touched the ground and how freeing it was to let go.

I reached a gate with a sign that read 'Beacon Hills Reserve' and realized that Derek's sad, crumbling house was near-ish. I leapt over the gate and landed with both knees bent. One foot in front of the other with one hand on the ground- balanced on my fingertips while the other was stretched out to keep me from falling over. I stayed like that with closed eyes and listened to the sounds around me and sifted through the scents carried to me on the breeze. I honed in on my target and was off like a bullet.

Did you know the average human stomach is capable of holding up to 135 ounces of food? Or that most people are most comfortable when the stomach holds only 34 to 68 ounces?And did you also know a deer has about an ounce of blood for each pound of body weight? So, doing the math on the run, literally, the 160 pound buck I was tracking (I could smell that this guy was in his prime) would have about 160 ounces of blood for me to gorge myself on before I took the next step in my plan for independence. I could remember somewhat useless facts like these, but my past- my life- and what happened to me? Nothing.

If Lydia was the only one I could rely on to take me in then I would do what I had to do to free her from that responsibility. I wasn't a child. Plus, I held her responsible for encouraging 'Sassy Emma' and I felt resentful.

I could hear the buck's heartbeat; slow and steady, as he drank from a stream upwind from me. I didn't want to give it a chance to even register that I was there- no sense in tormenting it. I slowed down and ghosted from tree to tree until I was close enough to touch it. Instead I leapt onto it's back and wrapped my arms around it's neck at the same time I sank my fangs into it's throat and locked my legs around it like I was going to ride it bareback (which as it turned out, I did). I drank and drank until the buck slowed and finally stopped, legs trembling. I could hear it's heart thudding weakly and I felt I had reached my limit- probably maxed out at the 135 ounces mark. It shakily tried to lay down but instead it's legs folded beneath our combined weight and it landed panting and shaking. It lay it's head down, tongue lolling, eyes wide and blinking slowly.

There was still a dull, smoldering burn in my throat that, as the bestiary passage said that Lydia had translated, wouldn't go away until I drank human blood...but then I'd go into bloodlust until I could control myself again...so it would actually get a whole lot worse before it would get a little better. Crap, man, who would seriously choose this? Did I? I wondered.

I climbed off the buck and watched it eye me wearily. I found myself wondering if the blood-sharing-to-heal thing worked on animals. How were you supposed to even do it and where? I supposed I'd have to make it up as I went along. Obviously, it had to drink my blood and the only sharp thing(s) on me were my new teeth and the best place to cut that would still leave me with the most control and maneuverability would be...my wrist?

I raised my wrist to my mouth and ran a tooth across the thin skin. I hissed- it stung. As blood immediately began to run, I stepped over to the dying buck. It was so weak it didn't even move as I leaned over and held my bleeding wrist over it's mouth. I saw blood drip onto it's tongue as it struggled to swallow and slowly licked off what now dripped onto the corner of it's mouth. The blood flowed for only a few seconds more before it stopped; the cut had already healed. I looked down at my wrist where there was only a faint pink line.

When the buck lifted it's head a minute later, I smiled. I could hear it's heartbeat getting stronger. I backed up and busied myself with wiping off all the fur I could see until I looked mostly the same as I had hours before, except there were some rips in the stockings but I thought they could pass as being "artfully torn". I would replace them for Lydia. A few minutes later it got to it's feet and took a few breaths before turning to look at me. It blew a snort at me and then, white tail flashing, it bounded off into the trees where it was starting to get light.

I took my time walking back to the gate; it took about an hour. By then it was mostly light out and I needed to get into town. I didn't want to run, being so full, not to mention the attention I'd draw to myself. I came out of my pondering when I hit the edge of town. I kept following the road and the early morning traffic, which led me to the hub of the city which is where I found my destination; the Beacon Hills Shopping Center. A one-stop shop that would have 99% of the things I would need.


	10. I.O.U.s

Chapter 10: I.O.U.s

I walked inside both knowing what I needed and having no idea what I wanted. I knew I needed underwear, bras, and socks so I went there first. I found a bralette and boy short set to replace the one Lydia gave me first. Then, I got a pack of underwear that came in an assortment of solid gray scale and a triple set of nude, white, and black bralettes, very basic, nothing fancy.

My intention was the same for socks but I went a little crazy when I saw the selection. The ankle socks were on sale since it was now autumn and they had some fantastic whimsical patterns on each pair that called to me; unicorns, books and eyeglasses, music notes, raining clouds, kittens, and owls. Then there were the knee-high socks... these were decorated with skulls with drumsticks crossed under them, umbrellas and scarves, pumpkins, steaming mugs, and half-opened chocolate bars. I got them all. I also grabbed a pair of black opaque stockings to replace the ruined ones of Lydia's I was wearing.

Next I went to the handbags section and browsed around until I found a plain canvas backpack just a little bit smaller than one you might use for school that was the color of pumpkin spice with moss-green stitching and over-sized zippers; I fell in love.

Turning to move on to my next item, the scarves and hats caught my eye. They had really soft jersey cotton scarves with matching knit hats; I got three sets in black, grey, and an olive green that matched my eyes.

I snagged a black and white chevron travel sized umbrella from an endcap on my way to the shoes. I found another pair of Converse, this one a grey pair, and some sturdy dark grey leather lace up boots with just a hint of a heel that stopped just below my calf.

Then I made my way over to the clothes. It took me a while to sort through the racks before I found something that drew me in. Skinny jeans; black ones, grey ones, and denim, t-shirts; a brown one with the same cartoon yellow submarine as the shirt I'd accidentally destroyed earlier on it, a red one with a little kawaii violin over the heart, a black one with a pair of heterochromia cat eyes, and a blue one with a black crow's head. I also found a jean jacket with angel wings made of tiny rhinestones on the back and it had a black cotton hood overlaid with black lace. They also had soft double-layered linen skirts that ended about 3 inches above my knee that I adored so to keep things easy, I got a black one and dark grey one, and finally, fleece-lined leggings that I got in red, black, and blue to match the t-shirts.

As I wondered around I found the toiletry items and got a wide-toothed comb, some black hair ties, milk and honey scented, perm-safe shampoo and conditioner, a can of flexible hold hair spray, a vanilla and honey body wash, an orange gauzy poof, a nice razor, coconut-vanilla scented deodorant, an orange toothbrush, cinnamon toothpaste, a tube of peppermint beeswax lip balm, and a bottle of facial moisturizer.

Feeling content with my findings I made my way over to the electronics section in search of a phone. I wanted to be able to stay in touch with the handful of people I knew. They had some prepaid smartphones (did that mean the other phones were dumb?) I shrugged to myself and picked out a sleek rose gold one that came with a charger and earbuds. Further down the aisle, there were protective cases. There was a cute soft rubbery black one that had pointy ears that stuck out on top and had a little pink nose and silver whiskers on the back; I tossed it in the cart and headed over to the card and stationary aisles.

I found a hard cover spiral notebook that had 'London' written on it in a sort of sloppy cursive, and what looked like decoupage cut-outs of a clock tower, the Union Jack, and a little palace guard in his tall black hat on a white horse. I smiled, not quite sure why this seemed to speak to me, and put it in the cart with everything else. I snagged a pretty pink gift bag, some green tissue paper, and almost as an afterthought, a small pack of blue pens. On my way to the accessories, I caught sight of a little island full of books from all the genres by the looks of it. I grabbed every one whose title intrigued me. Psychocybernuetics, It's Kind Of A Funny Story, How To Win Friends and Influence People, How to be Happy, Dammit, and as it happened to be there, a box set of the Harry Potter series that came in a neat-looking cardboard trunk.

Back on track to the accessories, I knew I needed sunglasses badly. I found a pair of aviators whose smoke lenses were so dark they almost seemed painted; perfect for my hypersensitive eyes. Then I spotted a watch with a black strap and white face. A black cat could be seen peeking over the edge of the face and reaching up as if to bat at the hour, minute, and second hands as they ticked by. It was so in the cart.

I was ready to check out when I passed by the necklace display. They had cut crystals almost just like mine that were gripped tightly in a stainless steel bracket on one end and had a circled loop on top for it to hang from a long stainless steel chain. They were all pretty, but the Bloodstone caught my eye; it was green with red spots. There were tags that told the properties of each type of stone. This one read,

'A stone of the sun and legendary bearer of Christ's blood, it promotes healing, selflessness, and idealism.'

I picked that one with the intention of switching it out with mine, which was still safely buttoned in the chest pocket of Lydia's denim jacket I wore.

Because it was still so early, there was hardly anyone else at the store, so I pushed the cart into the checkout aisle and began unloading.

"Good morning," said the cashier cheerfully. "Did you find everything you were looking for?" She asked over the beep, beep, beep of the scanner as it raised my total in chunks at a time.

"Uh, yep," I replied, nervously eyeing the candy display. I decided to get a dark chocolate bar filled with caramel, a pack of cinnamon gum, and a $500 gift card.

"Ok, you're total is $1,732.21," she chirped at me.

I had reached the moment I had been dreading. I glanced around us to see that no other people were nearby. The next register that was open was on the other end of the long row of registers. I stepped closer to her and looked deep into her eyes, "I already paid you," I swallowed nervously wondering if I had done it right.

She blinked at me then said, "You already paid me," before shaking her head and blushing at her 'mistake'. "Oh, that's right, I'm so sorry! You have a nice day."

I smiled stiffly and nodded at her, "You, too," as I easily lifted my bags out of the cart before heading out the doors. I walked down the sidewalk a few blocks to the little motel I remembered passing by earlier and let myself in, making my way to the front desk.

The man who greeted me eyed my full load of bags but his smile never wavered as he asked, "How can I help you, young lady?"

"I'd like a single room on the ground floor for a week, please?" I asked.

"Ok," he said, tapping some keys at the computer, that'll be $150, even." He looked at me expectantly.

I stepped forward and looked into his eyes before saying clearly, "I've already given you my payment for a week, and you just need to give me my key."

The man continued to smile at me as he said in a monotone, "Yes, you've paid. You are staying for a week in your single room," he said turning to the computer and tapping a few keys before grabbing a card and swiping it to activate it, "which is number 123, just down the hall." His eyes cleared, "Would you like some help to your room?"

Not wanting to appear stranger than I'm sure I already did, I said, "Yes, please," and handed him half of my bags and then followed him down the hall to my room. When we arrived at my room door, he stuck the card in the slot and the little light turned green, then he opened the door wide for me and my bags to fit through. "Thank you," I said as I dumped my bags on the bed before going to retrieve my card and other bags from him.

"You're very welcome. Enjoy your stay!" he chirped and he was gone.

I quickly got to work settling in to what was my new 'home' for at least the next week.

I took off the tags from all of the clothes and hung everything up except my socks, underwear, and bralettes; those I put in the chest of drawers that the t.v. sat on. Then, I set up the bathroom with all of my toiletries lined up on the counter and the bath things on the little built-in shelves of the shower. Next, I carefully switched the crystals in the necklace, putting the Bloodstone in the front pocket of my backpack, and opened my phone so that I could plug it in to charge. After that, I lined the books up along the wall of the night stand and wrapped Lydia's new replacement stockings and bralette set in the sheets of tissue paper before tucking them into the gift bag. I then took off and folded her skirt, clingy top, and cropped denim jacket before putting them in the gift bag as well. Finally, I put my sunglasses in my backpack, followed by my lip balm, gum, chocolate bar, travel umbrella, Psychocybernuetics, the notebook, and a couple of pens after I wrote down, 'I.O.U.s,' and underlined it on the first page, followed by, 'October 26, Beacon Hills Shopping Center, $1,732.21', then on the next line, 'October 26, Beacon Hills Motel, $150.00'.

I was now ready for a shower.


	11. Yesterday

Chapter 11: Yesterday

It felt wonderful under the steaming hot water of the motel shower. It wasn't as amazing as Lydia's shower had been, but it was still wonderful. It took a squirt of body wash and scrubbing with the motel washcloth for 3 solid minutes to get all of Lydia's makeup off. The shampoo and conditioner worked wonders on my mane and kept it soft and tangle-free. When I had finished shaving, I turned off the water, wrapped myself in a towel, and stepped out to brush my teeth and apply facial moisturizer before I attempted to blow-out and set my waves with a few spritz of hairspray. I didn't do too badly, if I say so myself.

Then I put together my first new outfit. I loved every article but after I had mixed and matched for a solid 20 minutes I finally settled on the grey knitted hat, black t-shirt, black skirt, grey knee socks with black skulls and crossed drumsticks pattern, black Converse, the crystal necklace, watch, a couple of hair ties, and my hooded jean jacket. I ran some lip balm over my lips to finish off the look as I stared at my ensemble in the full-length mirror. This is more like it! I thought as I smiled at myself.

I was almost ready to head out but first I read the entire instruction manual for the phone (with vampire senses it was more like hyper-speed reading). I used the gift card to activate it and got it working in under a minute. I fit the phone into the black cat protective case, then into my bag along with my room key. Then, looking around one final time, I pulled out my sunglasses and put them on. I stuck my arms into the backpack straps, grabbed Lydia's gift bag, and headed out the door. I waved to the man behind the desk as I made my way outside and into the bright sun and started to make my way back to Lydia's.

On the way, my mind immediately wandered to the kiss after having distracted myself for the last several hours. I didn't know how to act around Stiles now. I sighed. Really this was his fault...and the more I thought about it the madder I got. Because what was I supposed to have thought? The way he had watched me all through lunch (granted I had watched him, too but that was not the point here...) and then how he had looked into my eyes as he leaned so close...right into my personal space- to get his hoodie?! Oh, come on! I huffed in my head. 1. He could have asked me to pass it to him and 2. Why did he have to have it back right then? Couldn't he have waited for me to give it back on my own? I mean, did he think I wouldn't take care of it? That I would ruin it before I could give it back?

Hmm. I bit the inside of my cheek and thought about my own clothes yesterday with the cougar, and then as it turned out, Lydia's stockings with the buck... Ok, fine. Maybe he had a point, but what he could have said was, "Oh, I almost forgot...is that my hoodie?" To which I would have replied, "Why, yes it is, here." Then I could have handed it to him myself and said, "Thank you for letting me borrow it." Then we could have "See you later-ed" each other and Lydia and I could have gone on our way and everything would still be not weird...ugh!

I took a deep breath. Geeze, Emma. Why would you even think he wanted to kiss you? I berated myself. Well, you know what they say about assuming, you Ass. By the time I got there, I was still mad but now I was mad at myself. I stopped short; Lydia wasn't the only one there. Everyone was there- Derek's sleek ride, Stiles' rougher-looking Jeep, and Scott's dirt bike. I could hear them discussing a search party from all the way out on the sidewalk. An audience to my humiliation was exactly what I had tried to quash last night, but I couldn't avoid them all forever. My agitation evaporated almost instantly and my heart lurched at the knowledge that Stiles was so close. I still had no idea how I would act when I saw him. I swallowed thickly, took a deep breath, and squared my shoulders. I found comfort in the fact I felt much more comfortable in my skin and clothes as I walked up to the door and knocked.

Inside, the discussion stopped, footsteps came quickly, and the door opened. Their familiar scents washed over me, and I felt the now familiar burn when I sifted out Stiles'. Lydia stood there and blinked at me for a few seconds before she grabbed me by the hand and dragged me inside, then slammed the door.

"Where the hell have you been?" I flinched. "What were you thinking jumping out of my window in the middle of the night?!" she demanded.

I took off my sunglasses, hung them on the neck of my shirt, and ignored the others in the room for now and focused on Lydia. "I'm sorry," I said, and I really was. I didn't realize the panic it would cause, and I said so.

"Of course I panicked! You're one slip away from being a vampire and you left on my watch..." she nearly shouted.

I flinched again. "When I woke up I felt better but I- was hungry-," I started to explain.

"Did you drink from anyone?" Derek interjected.

"Of course I didn't!" I said indignant and hurt that he had so little trust in me. "I ran to the reserve and tracked down a buck. That's it," I replied.

"That's it?" asked Derek, skeptical. "It's noon. That was hours ago. Where else have you been?"

"Oh, well, I... went shopping," I answered as I waved my hand dismissively.

"Shopping?" Lydia finally seemed to notice that I wore a completely different outfit and took it all in before she said with some disgust, "Oh my God, you dress like some kind of emo nerd or something!"

I felt my face flush as I frowned. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I like it," whispered Stiles to Scott conspiratorially while Derek rolled his eyes.

Lydia didn't hear them and ignored me. "Where are my clothes?"

"Ah, yes," I said as I stretched out my hands to offer her the gift bag. "Sorry I couldn't wash them, and I had to replace the stockings- they got a little worn out, uh," I hesitated feeling awkward, "h-hunting..."

Doing it was one thing because I could sort of let go and let my new instincts take over, but it felt weird to talk about, especially to humans.

Listen to me... 'Humans' like I wasn't one yesterday... I internally rolled my eyes at myself.

"Oh," she seemed a little thrown off, "thanks." She met my eyes again and spoke quietly, "But why didn't you just tell me you needed to hunt?"

My eyes flickered over to Stiles, who, I noticed, was checking out my skull-and-crossed-drumsticks socks. An appreciative smirk lifted his lips and with my toes all excited inside of my shoes I had to purse my lips when I looked back to Lydia and said quietly so that only she (and I supposed Derek and Scott) could hear me. "I didn't want to talk- I wanted to be by myself for a while," I responded apologetically.

Lydia nodded in understanding and then glanced over at the group of guys and grimaced, "Oh, about that..." My heart thudded again. "Derek and Scott know."

It was her turn to flinch. "What?!" I whisper-yelled.

"Well, they asked why you might have run away and-."

"You told them?!" I accused her.

"No," she said defensively, "I said it was personal and when they pressed me about it Stiles-."

"Stiles!" I groaned quietly, my face reddening again, "great."

Lydia leaned in close to me and whispered, "In his defense, I think he told them in hopes of getting some advice on how to remove his foot from his mouth..."

I sighed, "Thanks."

"Come on," she said, tilting her head towards the guys.

"Welcome back, Emma," said Scott gently when we had joined them around a map of Beacon Hills.

"Thanks," I said and gave him an apologetic smile.

"So now what are we doing?" asked Lydia.

When no one spoke I cleared my throat, "Well, I was thinking Derek should take me back to where he found me- see if we find anything helpful?"

Derek nodded, "Ok, that's a good idea. If you were hit, there has to be traces of an accident- you were pretty far off the road for there to be nothing to find."

I grimaced, "Thanks." Turning to Stiles and mostly addressing one of his eyebrows, I said, "Maybe you could check with your dad to see if anyone reported anything?" I turned to Scott, "And you and Lydia could check around at all of the garages in town to see if anyone is getting repairs, claiming they hit a deer or something? I don't know how many garages Beacon Hills has, but it would make the job go that much faster with two people." I suggested to each of them. Everyone nodded in agreement at my plan. "Oh, Lydia, do you have any resealable plastic bags?" I asked.

She looked at me like I was weird for asking, but went to get them anyway. She gave me a few and I tucked them into my backpack.

"Ok then, let's roll, Derek," I said turning to leave, and then stopped, "Wait. Where's Allison?"

Scott shuffled his feet uncomfortably, "Her family is keeping her home today to practice her hunting skills." I could feel the sudden tension in the room.

"O-Kay," I said hesitantly. "I'm… sorry?" What was the big deal? It was a little weird, but- whatever. It's not like any of them were vegan.

"It is what is," huffed Derek. "Come on, Emma," he said to me, then to the others as he walked to the door, "Call if you find anything."

I stopped and grabbed Derek's sleeve as I said, "Oh yeah! Speaking of calling- I have a phone now. Can everyone put in their name and number?" I asked and handed it off to Lydia first. She fluffed her hair and took a selfie to add to her contact information, which started the trend for everyone else. Derek was the last one and he took longer than anyone else as he tapped and scrolled. "What are you doing?" I asked after a few minutes.

"So that we're less likely to lose you again, I downloaded the Find Friends app so we can pinpoint your location," he explained.

"Stalker much?" Lydia sneered.

"No, actually that makes a lot of sense- with all the supernatural stuff that goes on around here I'm surprised you don't already have each other LoJacked," I said.

They all looked at each other, thoughtful. Probably remembering all the times that would have come in handy, I thought and tried not to smirk. Almost in sync, they took out their phones and began to get set up with each other. Derek still had my phone, so he just did both of ours at the same time. Once everyone was linked up, Derek handed me my phone and said, "Let's get going if you're ready, then."

"Let's roll," I fired back.

"Wait- how did you go shopping?" asked Lydia after me.

I turned around but kept moving toward the door. "I.O.U.s," I said sheepishly. "Bye," I turned and hurried after Derek before she could ask me to clarify.

"Can I drive?" I asked as I caught up with Derek and slid my sunglasses back on.

"Do you even know how?" he scoffed.

"I don't know," I shrugged, "Gotta learn sometime, though."

"Yeah, well, not this time, not this car."

"Spoilsport," I pouted. Derek smirked.

We rode for a few minutes in silence before I turned to him, "Can I turn on the radio?"

"Uh-"

I pushed the button and began searching for something that inspired me.

"...One pair of candy lips and your bubblegum tongue..." a smooth and soulful voice purred.

"Uh...!" I quickly pushed the button to scan away.

"What's the matter with you?" asked Derek.

"Nothing!" I said, blushing and thinking of my kiss with Stiles. I had thought those words- 'candy lips and bubblegum tongue'- and now I was thinking about the kiss again.

Derek rolled his eyes.

"You do that a lot- roll your eyes. You do it to yourself, you know." I changed the subject away from me and my wandering mind as I continued to scan.

"What are you talking about?" Derek asked.

"You're what, like, 25?" I guessed.

Derek just grunted.

"I don't know you at all, but so far as I've seen, you surround yourself with emotional teenagers." He just looked at me as he waited for the other shoe to drop.

"What do you expect?" I shrugged and shot him a bemused smile before another song distracted me.

"Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away. Now it looks as though they're here to stay. Oh, I believe in yesterday..."

I saw Derek glance at me with one eyebrow raised, but I ignored him. The song continued and when it ended I continued to stare at the radio without really seeing it. Derek turned off the radio.

"You ok?" he asked, uncomfortable.

"Wha-" I had to clear my throat. "Yeah, why?" I asked. My voice sounded rough.

In answer, he leaned over to open the glovebox and pulled out a travel pack of tissues and handed it to me. When I still looked blankly at him he said, "You're crying."

"I am?" I said, pulling down the visor and lifting my sunglasses onto the edge of my hat to keep them up. Reflected back were my red-rimmed eyes and red nose. My subconscience noticed that the redness brought out the green in my eyes. I pulled a tissue from the pack and dabbed at the tears still running down my cheeks and tried to discretely blow my nose (I sounded a bit like a baby elephant trumpeting, so I don't think I pulled it off). Derek pressed his lips together and tried not to laugh.

"Did you remember something?" he asked after a few minutes to make sure he could ask without laughing at me.

"I don't think so- not really. The lyrics mean something to me, or maybe the song? I don't know what or why, though," I sighed, and fiddled with the tissue packet and thought about the different angles of the song, but nothing triggered a memory. Then I thought of Derek, with his scowls and his scruff and his leather jacket buying a travel pack of tissues to put in his car. The thought made me smile. Him pushing a cart- or hanging one of those shopping baskets from his elbow and getting things like hand soap, toothpaste, and q-tips...I was giggling now.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

I struggled to stop, which made it harder, and snorted in the process. The look on his face had me breathless for at least a solid minute before I could talk coherently.

"Nothing, nothing!" I said waving his question away. "It's not important-and don't roll your eyes at me, you know you find me endearing," I said cheekily, sliding my sunglasses back down.

He growled, but I could tell he also fought a smile. A few minutes later he pulled over on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. "We're here." I hopped out and followed him several yards into the woods. "You were laying right here," he gestured to a spot at the base of a tree.

I looked at the path we had followed and thought. I counted my steps and calculated the distance to be about 40 yards. I took out my notebook and pen and turned to a fresh page to write it down. Then I walked along the edge of the road as I kept a tab on Derek who was looking around the base of the tree. After I walked several yards up and down the shoulder I spotted a faded but distinct trail. I followed it back to Derek.

"I must have crawled here- there's no clear, straight path if I were hit hard enough to have flown through the air; too many trees too close together. Plus, you said you didn't smell any blood, so all of my injuries must have been internal, and I think I found the path I took," I concluded. I wrote as fast as I could.

Derek thought a second, "Why would you crawl away from the road where someone is going to be more likely to see you injured?"

I wrote that down, too, "Good point," I said, perplexed. "Did you find anything around the tree?"

"No, but let's make a sweep between here and the road on the path you took," he instructed.

We stayed only a few inches apart as our eyes scoured the leaf-strewn ground on either side of the path. About 15 yards from the tree, a light color caught my eye, mostly buried under the wind-tossed leaves. I stooped to pick it up. It was a slouchy grey knit hat, very similar to the one I currently had on my head.

"Freaky," I swallowed, shaking off the leaves. I turned it inside out, checking every inch of it. There were shiny black paint chips stuck in the fibers on the outside of it and on the back of the 'One Size Fits Most' tag looked to be the faded letters 'E W ' handwritten in black.

"'Ew?'" read Derek, leaning over my shoulder.

I pretended to glare at him. "At least I got my initials right." I quickly jotted down everything I noticed about the hat and then pulled out one of the resealable bags I got from Lydia.

Derek cocked an eyebrow, "So now you're a forensic scientist?"

I stuck my tongue out at him, "Let's just keep looking."

We continued down the path for a few more yards. When we were about 30 yards from the tree where Derek found me, his boot had started to come down on something hard but breakable. We both heard the telltale cracking sound and stopped. He lifted his boot and I reached down to pull out a pair of glasses. They had transparent red plastic frames and the lenses were a rounded rectangular shape. One of the arms had a crack going completely through it, but it was held together by the wire structure within the plastic. I looked up at Derek and raised my eyebrows. He shrugged back at me. I took off my sunglasses, hung them from my shirt neck again, and put on the red frames. The act was familiar but stubbornly did not make any of this click. I think Derek smirked, honestly, with my vampire-ish vision I definitely did not need glasses and everything looked warped and I was afraid I might get sick.

"Take those things off before you hurl on my boots," he said, "I can hear you getting queasy."

I took off the glasses and put them in another plastic bag before I stashed them beside the bagged hat in my backpack.

I left off my sunglasses as we continued the last 10 yards to the edge of the road. Coming from this angle, we both spotted the broken bits of some kind of broken car light lens cover that had been scattered amongst the leaves.


	12. Ready, Set, Go

Chapter 12: Ready, Set, Go

We both squatted down to get a closer look at the broken pieces of glass. "They're clear, so does that mean it's from a headlight?" I asked. "Looks like a weird shape for a headlight, though."

Derek picked up the biggest piece; it was three- dimensional shape angled like a 'V'. "Not necessarily. There are some classic models that had clear lights for everything." He handed me the one piece and then we began meticulously picking up all of the others, and putting them in yet another bag that joined the other two in my backpack. It was going on 2 o'clock as we reached his car and my stomach gave a loud growl. Derek raised an eyebrow at me. I shrugged. "What? You never get hungry?" I sassed him. A thought occurred to me before he could reply. "When you, you know, transform to your wolfy side, do you ever just, like, hunt? For food?"

"Yeah," he said somewhat gruff, then almost as an afterthought, "Seems like lately though, it's only when I need to protect myself or others."

I tilted my head. "You sound sad about that. Do you like being a werewolf?" That still seemed so surreal to say out loud.

"Yes, I do," he answered, "I think it's a gift. I told Scott as much when he was first turned a couple of years ago, but I think he still doesn't see it that way."

"Did-were you the one?" I asked awkwardly, not sure if it was a werewolf faux pas to mention who bit whom.

"No," was all he said. Hmm, maybe it was faux pas. Oops.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-," I said feeling awkward.

"No," he said again, "it's just- it's a long, complicated story."

"Oh," I said as I leaned back against the side of the car. "Are you hungry?" I changed the subject. "'Cause I was thinking we could get a bite to eat before heading back. Or," I said, a smile winding up my cheek, "we could go hunting."

"Now?" he asked doubtful; skeptical...

"Sure! Why? You don't think you could keep up?" I challenge with a grin.

He scoffed, "Just say when," and took off his jacket to throw on his seat through his open window.

I jumped up. "Excellent!" I opened the passenger door and set my backpack on the floor and then peeled my jacket off and covered the bag. I tossed my sunglasses on top of my jacket and then my hat on top of those. I shook out my hair and pulled it into a ponytail.

"Today?" snarked Derek.

"Shut up," I said as I finally shut the door, too excited to put any bite into it. I walked over to him, "Are you ready to be bested by a vampire, Wolfman?" I teased as I shook out my limbs.

He rolled his eyes, "Half-vampire, and we'll see about that," he smirked as he crouched down to get ready to go.

"Alright then," I said, "You have to keep the lead for a mile to win. Ready, set, go!" I practically squealed and took off. The thrill of running again had me giddy. I could hear Derek a few yards behind me, but he was gaining on me fast. After about a quarter-mile he caught up and kept pace with me. "You're fast," I said, not even breathing hard.

"You're not so bad yourself," he smirked.

"I know, right?" I grinned and took off at full speed. I laughed as I left him behind and I could hear him laughing, too. It only took a minute for me to keep my mile lead, so I stopped and sat on a big dry rock to wait for him to catch up. I grinned when he came around a tree and spotted me. "I win," I said, smug.

He grunted but smiled before he asked, "So, what should we hunt?"

I sniffed the air for a target, it took me a few minutes before I found something. This was different than my other two hunts. "Do you smell that?" I asked. It doesn't smell like prey. It smells," I sniffed again, "dangerous," I used the word he had used to describe my own scent.

Derek sniffed, too. "Yeah, I smell it. That's a California Grizzly... I don't think we should..."

But at the word 'Grizzly' I perked up and cut him off. "A grizzly! Seriously? We have to! With the two of us-," I argued.

"Even working together it'd be really dangerous- it's not my normal game and you've only hunted twice. Plus, they are packing on weight for the winter, so they're more aggressive," he tried to argue logically.

"Yeah, but it could be fun!" I said, "You just don't want to lose again," I teased.

"No," he said firmly, "this is me protecting my-," he stopped short, "I just don't want anyone getting hurt," he defended.

'My' what? I wondered... "Ok, alright," I conceded. "What do you want to hunt?"

He watched me wearily a moment before he closed his eyes and concentrated on the scents that were carried to us on the breeze. A smile slowly spread across his face as he opened his eyes to look at me. "Come here and tell me what you smell."

I hopped off the rock and walked over next to him and closed my eyes. Carried on the wind were the watery smell of a small brook, the sweet smell of rotting logs and crushed dead leaves, and the smell of our next meal. "It smells more earthy than the bear, more like the deer but a little bit different...is it an elk?" I guessed.

"Very good," Derek patted my shoulder encouragingly. "I'd say it's about 75 yards straight ahead and right now we're downwind. Let's separate to either side of it and trap it."

"Ready, set, go," I grinned at him and nudged his elbow.

He nodded to me and we were off like a shot. He took the far side and I the near as we circled wide. The elk sensed something was happening and bolted blindly deeper into the trees- straight at me. A second later it realized its mistake but must have sensed Derek behind him, too, and in a panic, it lowered its head to ram me with its antlers.

I was easily able to grab them but this guy was like twice the size of the buck and with his momentum, he forced my feet to slide backward in the leaves. I tried digging in my toes for purchase to force him back, but it was no use. Suddenly, my foot caught on a root under the leaves and I was down with one sharp point of antler pressed into my chest right between two ribs and another at my throat. "Derek!" I yelled.

He was on it in a split second. With a firm grip on the antlers, he pulled its head away from me and twisted, instantly snapping the massive elk's neck before it had even blinked once.

He quickly threw it to the side like it was nothing and dropped to his knees beside me to help me sit up.

"Are you ok?" he asked, worried, his eyes darting from my neck to my chest to check for any visible damage.

"I'm fine," I said embarrassed and started to get up. He grabbed my hands and hauled me to his chest. He held on tight and I froze a second before I wrapped my arms around him and trembled from the adrenaline.

After a minute he let go. "Let's not waste our hunt," he said and before my eyes he transformed, eyes flashing. I nodded and we began to feast, each in our own way.


	13. Inkblot Test

Chapter 13: Inkblot Test

Afterwards, I marveled at how Derek had managed to keep his clothes completely clean.

"I'm a werewolf, not an animal," he retorted.

"Was that a joke? Did you just make a joke!?" I crowed.

"Shut up," he nudged my shoulder as we walked back. "You're all neat and tidy, too," he said to get the focused teasing off of himself. "Even after your wrestling match."

We walked for several minutes and enjoyed the coolness of the late afternoon and the quiet of the woods. After a few more minutes, though, I couldn't keep the question that kept buzzing around in my head to myself anymore. "Do you have any siblings?" I asked. He told me about his sister Laura and that she was killed a few years ago, and Cora, who he had thought had died in the fire that had been set that had destroyed his family, home, and his life. "That's the same house you took me to after you found me?" I clarified.

"Yeah."

"Wait, so Cora's not- I mean, she's alive? That's amazing! Does she live near you?" I asked.

He frowned sadly, "No. she lives in South America with another pack."

"Another pack? What, like she got married into another- wait, you said you'd thought she'd died- what happened?" I asked more questions than he could answer. I felt that a sister who was presumed dead in a fire for years, then suddenly wasn't the whole time, should show a little better loyalty to her family if she could help it.

Derek sighed sadly, "It's another long and complicated story."

I said nothing as we continued for a little while. "How do you know the fire was set?" I asked.

Derek looked guilty. "Several years ago, before the fire I got into a relationship with a hunter." When I looked at him blankly, he clarified, "When I- when we- say 'hunter' we mean a supernatural hunter; someone who hunts down and kills supernatural beings," he explained.

The tiny hairs on my neck stood up and my heart gave an extra hard thud. Something about that sounded familiar and that terrified me.

"As in like us; werewolves and vampires," I pointed at each of us in turn.

"Half-vampire," he said with a half smile, "but yeah. There are some who would recognize that you are only half and would try to save you, others would just out and out kill you on principle."

"You found one of the good ones?" I asked.

He face darkened with bitterness and hurt, "No. I found one of the worst. One who would use someone she pretended to care about to get information so that she and her family could kill me and mine." His voice held such anguish that it stopped me in my tracks. If my heart wasn't already so sluggish, I'd say it would've stopped. Derek walked on for a few more steps before he, too, stopped. He didn't turn around. His shoulders rose and fell rapidly and his heart was thudding so loudly it almost hurt my ears. I felt tears well up in my eyes in empathy. Or sympathy? Something of this aspect of the supernatural life struck home with me and I was shook. It took three steps to reach him. I crashed into his back and my arms wrapped around him as I buried my face between his shoulder blades. I squeezed him (perhaps a little too tight in my grief, as he sort of grunted) but his arms came over the tops of mine and he squeezed right back.

After several minutes of silent suffering I turned my head to rest my cheek on his warm back. "I think, maybe, I had a big brother. I bet- I bet he was a lot like you. So much about you feels familiar, but I have a sinking feeling that something happened to him...and I can't even remember." A fresh wave of tears ran down my face. Derek gently removed my arms and turned around to face me. He pulled me to his chest and my ear rested against his sternum. I found the beat of his heart soothed me. He kissed the top of my head and my heart melted and puddled into my shoes. I sniffled.

"You're not getting snot all over my shirt, are you?" his voice rumbled in my ear.

I burst out a laugh and pushed him away from me. "You think I can drain an elk but I can't control my nose?" He just laughed, and it was good to hear him laugh. I held out my hand and he took it in his. We walked again but this time with supernatural speed.

We arrived at his car only a few minutes later. "You know I won the strength portion of the competition, right?"

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, yeah. You won, I won, I'd say we make a pretty good team," I smirked at him as I got in the passenger seat. I took my hair back down, shook it out, and pulled on my hat again.

"I'd agree to that," he said and started the car.

I put on my sunglasses and pulled out my notebook and pen. I added, 'Big brother?' and 'Supernatural hunters?' to the bottom of the page. "One more question about the hunters and then we'll never speak of her or them again?" I asked. He seemed reluctant but agreed. "Who was she?" I asked.

He was quiet so long I thought he had decided not to answer after all when he finally spoke. "Her name was Kate Argent; she was Allison's Aunt," he dropped the bomb.

My jaw dropped and my eyes bugged behind my sunglasses. "Well...I...that is...that changes...Allison?" I face-palmed, "Oh my God! She stayed home today to practice her hunting skills?! She didn't help because she's improving her ability to kill us! What the heck, man?!" I fumed and really wanted to punch her in her stupid faceless face (since I never actually met her I couldn't picture it).

"It's ok, sort of. We understand each other. She had a little bout of trying to kill us after Kate was killed; after I, uh, bit her mother," he explained, albeit poorly.

"I'm sorry, come again?"

Derek sighed, "Her mother was trying to kill Scott so in the fight to save him I had to bite her."

"So, she's a werewolf now, too? And that's why they "understand" you?" I asked, dubious.

"Well, no. They so despised the supernatural that she had Allison's dad kill her before she could turn," he said.

I blinked stupidly, "And so Allison started hunting you guys down... and we trust her, why?"

"Her grandfather was using her to get to me. It turned out he was sick and wanted me to bite him to cure him. He thought he was using Scott, too, but Scott had secretly poisoned him so that when I was forced to bite her grandfather, his body rejected the bite and he's in a home now."

"Yeah, that doesn't convince me to trust Allison," I said flatly. "Geeze, if this isn't a complicated story, I can't even fathom your others," I mumbled. "Why'd it have to be you?" I hated how they all used him. "Why couldn't he just have Scott do it?"

"Because I was the Alpha; in order to turn, you have to be bitten by an Alpha," he explained.

"You were the Alpha?" I questioned.

He glanced at me. "That's another long and complicated story.

"Werewolf politics," I muttered. "I'm glad being a vampire is so much easier," I mused.

"Half-vampire, and they have their own Alphas and packs, remember?" he replied.

I thought about that and hummed and watched him out of the corner of my eye behind my sunglasses. "Well, I guess this pack isn't so bad," I said. A slow smile wound up his cheek. We lapsed into silence as I wrote down all that I had just learned then left my notebook and pen in my lap. "Where are we going?" I asked as I pulled out my phone, "I'll text everyone to fill them in."

"I think Stiles can help us put the pieces of the turn signal lens cover back together and figure out the make and model of the car it came from," he said.

My heart did its reluctant thud at the mention of Stiles and I swallowed thickly. I sent a group text to everyone, even Allison despite her whole deal not sitting well with me, but if Derek trusted her, then so would I, but I didn't have to be happy about it. I told them what all we had found and that we were on our way back. I asked Stiles where we could meet him to look over what we found. He responded a minute later for us to head to his house where he could use his computer. I relayed the message to Derek and he nodded. I put my phone back in my bag and absentmindedly started chewing on my pen and a nervous bounce began in my foot. We were going to Stiles' house. I was going to be in close quarters with him again. I would have to talk to him...

After several minutes of the incessant movement of my foot, Derek asked, "Are you ok?"

I stopped moving but continued to chew on my pen. "Yeah, I'm fine," I said too fast and blushed.

Derek rolled his eyes, "Oh my- is this about Stiles?"

"No," I denied but the redness of my face increased and gave me away for the terrible liar that I was.

"It's Stiles," he said like the whole fiasco was nothing.

"Yeah, but," I pulled the pen from between my teeth, "I humiliated myself; that wasn't me! How am I supposed to act around him now? Do I act like nothing happened? Or should I be coy- because I can do an extremely embarrassing version of coy. A you-can-fry-an-egg-on-my-face coy. Or-," I ranted until Derek put his hand over my mouth.

"Stop!" he said as he tried not to laugh at my panic. "Stop already! Look at you; taking on a grizzly bear has you chomping at the bit, but a hormonal 18-year-old boy has you freaking out?" I glared at him. He still hadn't removed his hand so I licked his palm. "Ugh!" he said and wiped his hand on my arm. I laughed and put the pen back in along my cheek like it was a lollipop.

He tried again, "Stiles is," he seemed to struggle to find something nice to say, "kind of a spaz. He speaks and acts before he thinks and it usually gets him into some kind of trouble. But, he's a good guy," he sounded reluctant to say that out loud. "Give him a chance. Just be yourself even if you blush; he thinks it's cute, and just so you know, he did want to kiss you last night but he pulled a Stiles and took one step forward and two steps back. I'm not saying he won't screw up again...actually, I'd be more surprised if he didn't." He glanced at me again, "Like I said, he's Stiles."

Wow. Not what I expected and infinitely sweet. He must have been a great big brother. I frowned. "What?" asked Derek, surprised at my scowl. "Should I have said, 'He's a creep and you should stay away from him,'?"

"No, I really appreciate what you said," I said. I took the pen out of my mouth. "I just don't understand how Cora could leave you. I know you said it's complicated, but I'm finding it really hard not to resent her. Sorry." I wasn't sorry.

He looked at me sadly, "Thanks, but don't. She didn't abandon me; she's there for her own safety; she's in hiding."

Oh. "Sorry," I whispered, meaning it this time. "Complicated?"

Derek nodded, then said, "We'll be at Stiles' in a minute."

I felt better, but my remaining nerves had me chewing my pen again. We pulled up and I gathered my stuff. I threw my now thoroughly chewed pen inside the back of my notebook and put it and my sunglasses inside my backpack. I picked up my jacket and we headed to the house. I took a deep breath and knocked on the finished oak door. I fixed my hair unnecessarily while we listened to Stiles make his way downstairs from where I assumed his room must be. Derek patted my shoulder but left his hand there to give me a little squeeze. I took strength from it and relaxed.

Stiles seemed to take forever to open the door. When he finally did, I saw that he wore a black and grey flannel shirt over a black t-shirt and dark blue jeans. I hadn't noticed earlier because I was trying to ignore him for the most part out of mortification. Now, though, with his scent washing over me and after my talk with Derek, I drank him in. I swallowed the burn in my throat and said, "Hi, Stiles," just above a whisper, my cheeks warming only a little.

"Hey," he replied back with a shy smile of his own. "Um, Emma?"

"Yes?"

He puckered his lips a little and pointed to them, "You, uh..."

My heart thudded harder than ever and my warm face turned into a full on blaze. I couldn't believe he brought it up like that, and in front of Derek. "What?" I said a little startled.

He gestured at his lips again and said, "Just, uh-."

"E-excuse me?" I stuttered and stepped back.

He stepped towards me and reached for my face, "Here let me just-."

Derek and I glanced at each other, eyes wide, then Derek's face relaxed and he closed his eyes and chuckled. His shoulders droppede as understanding dawned on him.

"What?" I said still startled at the turn of events.

Derek opened his eyes and looked at me. He smirked and said, "Don't make chewing on your pens a habit, ok?"

At my still-confused look, Stiles reached out and gently touched the corner of my mouth as he said, "You've got blue ink, just here."

Thud went my heart at his touch. "Oh!" I said, embarrassed, then, "Oh no!" I pulled off my backpack and grabbed my notebook. It fell open to the page in the back where I had tossed my pen in. Thank God it had only bled onto the two pages it was stuck between. I tore them out, careful to keep the pen between them to protect anything else from the ink.

"Come on in. Trash can's in here, Emma," Stiles said leading the way to the kitchen.

I threw away the mess and looked up expectantly at Stiles. "Bathroom?" I asked.

"You can use the one upstairs," he said, "Come on."

I followed him and I kept my eyes on the stairs, Derek, right behind me, chuckled the whole way.

"Bathroom's there," he said and pointed at a door on the left of the hallway, "and my room is just down there," he pointed at a door further down and on the right. "Just come on in when you're done, ok?"

"Ok, thank you," I smiled.

He and Derek continued down to Stiles' room as I made my way into the bathroom. I turned on the light and closed the door. I looked in the mirror and saw the blue inkblot smeared across my lips on the right side of my mouth. "Ew," I mumbled to myself.

I scrubbed it off with some of the hand soap. I could hear Derek and Stiles as they talked in Stiles' room. I hadn't paid attention until the sound of my name caught me off guard.

"Emma likes you (I don't know why) but she does, so don't mess it up and don't hurt her," Derek said.

"I'm not- wouldn't-," Stiles sputtered, "Who are you, her big brother?"

Derek didn't hesitate, "For all intents and purposes, yes."

My heart warmed but I growled good-naturedly. "Alright, 'Big Brother', go easy on him, sheesh," I said to myself in the mirror. I heard Derek chuckle; he had heard me.

"He should know where he stands," I heard Derek say back to me.

"Who are you talking to?" asked Stiles, totally confused by the long-distance conversation he could only hear half of.

Derek and I laughed.


	14. Spiderman Kiss

Chapter 14: Spiderman Kiss

I made my way out of the bathroom and silently padded down the carpeted hallway to Stiles' room. On my way, I looked at the photos that hung on the walls of Stiles as a baby with the biggest brown eyes I'd ever seen, through each year of his life. In the center of them all was a family photo that showed him when he was maybe 10 or 11 years old standing between a beautiful woman, who I guessed was his mother, and his much younger-looking father. They looked so happy.

I bit my lip as I turned the corner into Stiles' room. It looked lived in but not messy and was painted in soothing blues and trimmed in white. He had a few band posters, one even matched his t-shirt from the day before with the crossed drumsticks and the name 'Slow Kids' curved above them and 'At Play' curved underneath. There was a large snowboarding character on his wall, an actual snowboard, a surfboard, and boogie board all leaning against the walls here and there. There was a bike helmet on a bookshelf and a lacrosse helmet on a netted stick. His full-sized bed was made with a blue and white stripped comforter. It all smelled of him and I was simultaneously in heaven and hell.

Stiles himself sat at his desk. He leaned back in his chair, hands folded behind his head, and feet crossed on the edge. Derek sat in the only other chair across the room by the window. I tried to act casual as I headed over to sit on the only other option besides the floor. When I sat down on the foot of Stiles' bed, I sunk into the plush comforter and soft mattress and immediately felt exhausted; the long and active night and day, finally caught up to me. It was then I realized the only rest I had gotten over the last 36 hours or so was when I had been unconscious (both times). I yawned as I took off my backpack and unzipped it. I took out all three plastic bags and handed them to Stiles. In some cliché moment, our fingers touched in the transfer and our eyes met briefly before we both shyly looked away. Cliché or not I still felt a thrill at the minimal contact. Call me a romantic.

He cleared his throat, "So these are yours?" he asked as he held up the hat and glasses.

"It appears so," I said, "The hat has a faded 'E W' on the inside and I tried the glasses on- it felt like a familiar thing to do, but other than that..." I shrugged. "Also, the hat has some black paint chips stuck in the fibers, but I have no idea what we could do with that information not having a forensic lab."

Stiles looked for the paint chips through the plastic and then nodded when he found them. "Yeah, we'll have to file that away for now. Hey," he said as he realized something, "You got your initials right," he grinned at me.

I smiled sleepily. "That's what I told Derek,"I said as I turned to him and stuck out my tongue.

"Oh, real mature," he said and rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

I shrugged again, "Too tired, don't care."

Stiles looked at the glasses and chewed on the inside of his cheek. "I'm not sure what we could do with- well I guess we could- it's worth a try..." he mumbled to himself.

"You going to fill us in anytime soon?" groused Derek as though bored already.

Stiles frowned at him before he looked at me. "I was thinking we could do a reverse image search to see if we can find you anywhere." I saw Derek's eyebrows go up, impressed.

"Ok. Do you need me to do anything?" I asked.

Stiles opened the bag, pulled out the glasses, and noticed the cracked earpiece. He spun his chair around to open a drawer and pulled out a small bottle of fast-drying super glue. With a steady hand he glued the damaged area and held them together for several seconds. Then he felt all around the cracked earpiece to make sure no glue had oozed out and to be sure they were dry. "Almost as good as new," he said as he handed the glasses to me. "Put those on, then I'll take a picture and do the reverse search," he instructed.

"Tell me when you're ready, because looking through these with vampire eyes makes me feel peaky," I said.

"Half-vampire," Derek drawled.

I looked at him and rolled my eyes. He stuck his tongue out at me. I laughed. Stiles looked between the two of us and shook his head.

"What?" I asked.

He continued to shake his head. "I've never seen him like this before," he threw his thumb in Derek's direction.

We both looked over at Derek and he deadpanned back. I giggled and Stiles just shook his head again before he turned to me with his phone in hand. "I have a computer camera, but this one is better quality," he said, holding up his phone. "Ready when you are."

I put them on but closed my eyes at first, then I opened them slowly. I hoped that that would be the key to not hurling on Stiles' floor. My warped vision tried to tell me Stiles' eyes had widened a little and his cheeks were blooming, my uninhibited ears told me his heartbeat leapt a little. I bit my lip, face warming.

After a couple of seconds he still hadn't taken the picture and Derek spoke up, "I knew seeing the color red raises your heart rate, but get a grip, Stiles. Just take the picture."

Stiles shook himself at Derek's jibe, his cheeks full on red now. He said, "On the count of three." I licked my lips and smiled. "One, two, three." I heard the electronic shutter sound so I closed my eyes and took off the glasses and handed them back to Stiles. He put them back in the bag and set them with the hat. Then he uploaded the photo and started the search for me.

After five minutes without a single hit, though, and I felt my eyes begin to droop and the excitement had worn off. I lay down on my side with my head in my hand across the foot of Stiles' bed to watch him work with the fading sunlight making lines across his shoulders as it came in through the blinds.

I must have fallen asleep after that because the next thing I knew I was on my back, cocooned in Stiles' comforter, in the middle of his soft bed. My eyes fluttered open and I saw that daylight battled to enter through the closed blinds. There was a heavy arm draped across my waist and I could feel warm breath being exhaled over my cheek. I bit my lips, held my breath, and looked over at Stiles' sleeping face. His long dark lashes twitched as his eyes moved beneath his closed eyelids- he was dreaming. A smile flickered across his pink lips for a moment and his arm tightened around me a second before relaxing again. I smiled; glad it was a good dream and relished the sweetness of this quiet moment. Unfortunately, I had some pressing needs that had to be met, so I rolled out of the comforter. It was so plush that Stiles' arm barley moved as I rearranged it so that he now hugged the comforter. He lay sideways at the head of his bed, fully clothed except for his shoes. Derek must have left at some point and trusted Stiles and I to behave (the thought made me blush).

I headed to the door to go to the bathroom, but as I reached the door I heard him mumble, "M-memma."

Did he just say my name? I stood still to see if he had woken but his even breaths kept a deep, steady rhythm. I bit my lip again and smiled as I made my way to the bathroom down the hall. Aside from Stiles' heartbeat and the motors of the furnace and refrigerator downstairs, the house was silent. I splashed water on my face and tried to tame my hair. It took me a minute to realize my hat must have fallen off while I slept. I really wanted to brush my teeth so I began to snoop around for mouth wash and toothpaste. I found peppermint gel toothpaste and used a dab to finger-brush my teeth then rinsed my mouth with the intense peppermint mouthwash. It left my mouth with a burn almost as bad as my throat. I needed to eat before things got out of hand and I wouldn't be able to control myself. I padded back to Stiles room, found my bag, and pulled out my notebook and spare pen. I turned to a blank page and wrote a note:

'Stiles,

Sorry for hogging your bed. Thank you for letting me crash, though. I ran back to the motel to get cleaned up and eat. I'll be back in an hour.

Em'

I put the note on his desk by, what appeared to be half of a unique 'A' frame-shaped lens cover; not gently domed like most. The shape seemed familiar but it was still frustratingly out of reach. I grabbed the plastic bags with my old hat and glasses and tucked them into my backpack, then looked around to see if I'd left anything and spotted my new hat behind Stiles...just as he rolled over on top of it. I sighed internally. Using all the stealth my half-vampire skills allotted me, I stretched over him and managed to slip my pointer and thumb under his back to pinch my hat. I slowly began to tug it out when Stiles hummed in his sleep and I looked down at him. Our faces were inches apart when I thought he mumbled my name again, "Mm-memma', then he lifted his chin and kissed me. Upside down as we were to one another, we aligned to kiss each other's bottom lips. He broke the kiss with a little sigh and shifted enough to free my hat before he settled back into a deep sleep.

I stood there, shocked; it took me at least a full minute to straighten back up. My fingers went to my mouth and I grinned like an idiot as I left in silence.


	15. 1967 Impala

Chapter 15: 1967 Impala

Thick grey clouds had started to roll in by the time I got back to my motel room. I plugged my phone in and picked out my red t-shirt with the kawaii violin, black skinny jeans, my black scarf, and my new grey Converse.

I showered quickly, did my hair up in a messy bun like Lydia showed me, and grabbed my phone from the charger. I was about to put it in my backpack when I noticed a notification of a missed text was flashing on the screen. It was from Stiles.

Stiles: Hey I'm pretty sure I found you on Instagram! If you haven't eaten yet, would you like to get a burger? I can pick you up.

A burger with Stiles sounded fantastic.

Me: I'd love to. I'm at the Beacon Hills Motel, room 123.

Stiles: Be there in 5.

I was more excited to see Stiles than I was about finding out who I was. Would I still be me or would I remember everything and change? I shook my head to rid myself of such worrisome thoughts and hurried to brush my teeth properly. I tossed my umbrella into my bag and slipped my arms into my jacket and was just putting some lip balm on when there was a knock at the door. I beamed, grabbed my backpack, and practically skipped to the door. Taking a calming breath, I opened the door. It was Stiles, of course. He had changed into a white t-shirt that had a black band around the collar and sleeve cuffs, dark red jeans, and black Converse. He stood with his hands in his back pockets. He had showered but the soap he used couldn't mask his blood and chocolate scent that made the burning in my throat flare up.

"Hey," he smiled.

"Hey," I smiled back. "Let's roll, I'm starving."

I shut the door behind me and we made our way out to his Jeep. He opened my door for me (and they say chivalry is dead). I had to move the hoodie to the middle console and then he got in on his side. The sky was totally covered in heavy dark clouds. The radio came to life when he started the engine and this sort of punk reggae music started playing. I tapped my foot and drummed my hands on my thighs. I even started humming along and mouthing the chorus by the end. Stiles was shooting sidelong glances at me and smirkng. We pulled into the burger place as the song ended and the sky opened up.

"Who was that?" I asked, over the roar of the rain as I got out my umbrella.

"Uh, that was 'Slow Kids at Play'," he said, watching me. "It's-," he hesitated, "I used to be the drummer...until they kicked me out. That was one of the last songs we did together."

"Oh! I...what...wow," I sputtered. I thought of the surfboard, boogyboard, snowboard, all the sports gear around his room, and now he was a drummer, too.

I looked at him shyly, "Is there anything you can't do?"

His cheeks bloomed as he grinned, "Well, I don't have super speed or strength or senses like you guys," he shrugged, "I'm 147 pounds of pale skin and fragile bones. Sarcasm is my only defense."

I laughed, "You're so funny, I love you-r sense of humor," I tried to breeze past my accidental declaration of my infatuation with this boy I'd known for less than three days. "Let's go eat," I blurted and fled out of the door to hide my flaming face. I immediately regretted my decision. In my haste to escape I had completely spaced on the downpour outside and quickly scrambled to open the umbrella I had been holding uselessly in my hand.

"Just another reason I'm glad I don't wear makeup," I grumbled to myself.

Stiles came around, shoulders hunched against the rain. He had neglected to grab his hoodie and his white t-shirt was already plastered to his skin from his shoulders to his chest, which didn't help the blaze in my cheeks, if you know what I'm on about. He waited for me to win the battle as I struggled to take the cover off, undo the flap that snapped it closed, untwist the whole thing and open it up. When did umbrellas become so complicated?! "Ah!" I exclaimed when I had finally won the battle. It was a small, one-person umbrella, so we had to huddle together with one arm around each other to keep both of us under it's protection. I tried not to focus on how I had to put my arm around his waist because I was so much shorter than him (he didn't seem to mind, though) whereas he had his arm around my shoulders.

We walked inside and immediately realized that we were at the peak of the lunchtime rush. Dripping slightly we had to wait for 10 minutes in line before we could order. I had the same thing as last time and had to compel the guy taking my order to let the rare burger slide. He gave me my total and I pulled out my notebook and pen and wrote down 'October 27, Beacon Burgers $7.50' before the cook came up to remind the guy of the 'Rare Policy'. I compelled him as well, but it was so busy that no one besides Stiles noticed. He'd watched me, fascinated.

"I wonder if you could do that to my chemistry teacher- get me an 'A'..." he mused.

"Probably," I played along. Then a thought occurred to me, "Have you guys been missing school the last two days because of me?"

"No, we're on Fall Break, but we go back in two Mondays," he said. I felt better knowing I wasn't disrupting their lives to the point they'd been missing school.

With more people working, our order was ready within minutes and after only a couple minutes more, a little table opened up and we sat down. I thought it was really a single-seater and someone had grabbed another chair to add it to it because it was so small it was the same size as the tray our food came on and when we sat down, our knees knocked together.

"Ow," we both yelped and then laughed as we tried to maneuver our legs so that we could both fit; first my knees inside his (awkward), then his inside mine (duh, equally awkward), then one of his between mine and one of mine between his (what the heck were we doing?!), we nearly had it with my legs in the outside aisle and his against the wall, but his legs being longer than mine had him a bit squished, finally we got it with my much shorter self turned more towards the wall and his quite taller self angled out into the aisle a little bit. Both of us were a bit red-faced as we realized a few people had been watching us try to figure out how to fit at the tiny one-person table.

We grabbed our food and dove in like we hadn't eaten in days. Slowly the flames in my throat lessened to the smolder I was getting used to. I finished my food first, but only just. I slowly reached across to his box of curly fries, took his last one, and then watched him out of the corner of my eye as he watched me eat it.

"Want a milkshake?" I asked turning to him as though we did this all the time. "I'm thinking chocolate," I said with false bravado.

His cheeks tinted. "Sure, my treat," he said, jumping up to wait in the slightly less-long line. I unashamedly watched him with my chin in my hand to discltract myself. I was nervous to find out who I really was and I thought he could tell since he played along with my milkshake-stall-tactic. He returned and handed me the shakes while he gathered all the debris from our meal and took care of it. When he sat back down I passed him his- he had gotten chocolate, too- I sampled the sweetness of the other half of my craving. I glanced up at Stiles and blushed when I saw that he was watching me, so I watched him, too, and with a straight, if not slightly pink, face at that. Lydia and Sassy Emma would have been proud.

He gave me a moment before asking, "Why are you afraid to find out who you are?"

I swallowed, and looked down at his hands holding his cup. I had been right, he knew. Clever boy, I thought.

"Ignorance is bliss, right?" I shrugged before I looked up at him again and bit my lip before I looked back to his long fingers. "What if it changes everything? What if I don't like who I really am? What if-," I took a breath, "what if something terrible happened and my brain is trying to protect me from remembering?"

I pulled my notebook out from my backpack and opened it to my page of notes from the day before, and pointed at the questions, 'Why did I crawl away from the road? Was I running away from someone? Did someone intentionally run me down?'. He looked at the page and read over what I had written. I watched his eyes move over the writing until he looked up at me again.

Quietly I said, "I'm happy now."

He smiled his crooked smile and reached across the couple of inches separating us and took my free hand in his. OhmyGod. "But if you're in danger, if someone is looking for you, you need to know. We'll protect you- we'll do whatever we have to do to protect you."

I was touched and a little embarrassed when I felt tears well up in my eyes. "Why? Why would you guys possibly risk your lives for me when you don't even know me?" He stared at me as though confused that I had to ask and my heart gave a thud.

"That's what friends do. All the time we've spent with you and got to know you...we like you. I like you, Emma. You can't spend time with you and not like you. It's impossible."

And that was the moment I knew that I loved him and would do anything for him. My cheeks blazed and my heart squeezed inside my chest. I twisted my hand in his to link our fingers shyly. "Even Scott?" I asked. Having only spent a few minutes in his company, I wondered about his angle.

"That's just Scott; he's a hero," Stiles shrugged.

I laughed nervously, "Have you already checked me out?"

His cheeks bloomed. "Well, I mean, yeah," he looked down at our hands, "A couple of times," he said sheepishly.

It was my turn to smirk, but I filed his confession away to squee over later. "I meant on Instagram."

"Oh," he cleared his throat, "No, I waited for you."

I took a deep breath, pulled out my phone, and handed it to him, "Ok, show me who I am."

Without letting go of my hand, he leaned in to swipe and tap. Within a few minutes he had the app downloaded and the account pulled up. It clearly showed a birds-eye picture of me lying on my back on a red beach towel, an open book on my chest, and my hair splayed out all around my head like a halo, and all curled up on the blanket of my hair was a little black kitten. The account name was chaton_noir.

Styles sighed, "I'm sorry."

"What for?" I asked, bewildered.

"We still don't have your name. And what does "chaton noir" mean?" Styles asked.

"Black kitten," I answered automatically. We looked at each other surprised. "I guess I took French at some point...?" I shrugged.

Our shoulders touched as we looked back to the screen. I bit my lip as he scrolled up and down to show all of my posted photos. There were well over a hundred. Most were of me and a couple of pretty girls, one with long dark hair and clear, pale skin, and big brown eyes and the other had mocha-colored skin and a beautiful smile. Some also included a pretty blonde girl with blue eyes. The oldest posts were from five years ago of middle-school me with a man and woman who had to be my parents, the little black cat, several of me with an older guy, probably in his early 20s with a military haircut and thick black framed glasses, and a few with a pretty red-head who looked to be in high school at the time.

I squinted at the description of the oldest one; the 20-something guy with military hair and glasses had picked me up and was spinning me around, my hair flying out behind me and we were both laughing. "chaton noir My Bubby back from boot camp! I'm so proud of you, Justin!" read Stiles, "That was five years ago, in Sunnydale, California. Huh, so you really are from a small town in California."

"I-I think he's my big brother," I whispered. I touched his face on the screen and it zoomed in and cut me out. I didn't remember him at all.

I scrolled to the next picture. It was of me, I looked about 12, and the pretty red-haired high school girl. We smiled at the camera with an old computer behind us. The caption read, 'chaton noir Advanced Computer Skills today with willowrosenberg! #nerdlife #geekskills #skillsfordays #nerdygirls #sunnydalegeeks'.

I swiped out and scrolled up my feed toward newer posts. One post was a looped video of a dove being released over a lake. The caption read, 'chaton noir a beautiful service for Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert. You will be sorely missed.' It was from April. "Only 6 months ago." I murmured as I swiped back out to look at my wall of newer pictures.

There was a huge span of just pictures of me or of random objects artfully filtered before another picture of the two dark-haired girls and I popped up. We were in a dressing room and wore hideous pants. We laughed at the camera, but the smile didn't reach the fair-skinned girls' eyes. The caption read "'chaton noir We #shippedourpants kmart! elenagilbert bonniebee.'" I looked back at the sad-eyed girl and put 2 and 2 together; I bet that's Elena Gilbert, I thought.

Stiles chuckled at a picture where Justin, Elena and Bonnie, and my parents clearly sang to me in a loud and embarrassing way while I sat in the middle of them with a Happy Birthday paper tiara on my head and covered half of my very red face. He tapped it. "'chaton noir Found this 8 months late #facepalm 17th birthday dinner, October, 25 thegrill, I love you Mom and Dad, Sergent Bubby, elenagilbert and bonniebee! #wishwecouldturnbacktime #goodolddays" was the caption.

Both of our breaths caught. "Your birthday is October 25th," murmured Stiles.

I turned to look at him with surprise, and he was so close, so close...our eyes flickered to each other's lips before they bounced back up.

"Happy birthday," he whispered.

I breathed in his scent and as we inched closer I parted my lips and closed my eyes...

Ding! Ding!

The spell was broken as our phones alerted us to a group text from Scott.

We blushed and sat back, frustrated at the interruption. We looked at my phone.

Scott: Lydia found the garage. Two agents from F.B.I. named Ford and Hamill. Broken turn signal lens and paint damage. Claimed they hit a deer a few nights ago. Sending a pic.

"I seriously doubt those are their real names, but why would they use fake ones?" questioned Stiles.

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"Star Wars," he answered as though that should explain it all. When I just blinked at him in blank confusion, he elaborated. "Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill? They played Han Solo and Luke Skywalker?" He hit himself on the forehead, "Ah! If you can't remember watching Star Wars, then that means..." he paused and looked at me with his crooked smile, "we have to watch them." He seemed quite excited at the idea and I felt myself getting excited, too.

A second later, however, a candid picture of an old classic black car from the 60's and two guys came through. One was tall, I mean really tall, and had long, shoulder length brown hair, and the other looked a little older but was shorter and had short brown hair. I thought they looked like they could be brothers. Both wore black suits with white collared shirts and black ties. They were both very attractive...and they both sent chills of terror down my spine. I could feel the tiny hairs on my arms and neck stand on end.

"Are you ok? You look like you've seen a ghost," asked Stiles, concern evident in his voice.

I licked my lips and my hands shook, "I don't know why, but they terrify me."

He looked back at the picture and zoomed in on the car where you could clearly see the damage. "That's a 1967 Impala."


	16. Crushed

Chapter 16: Crushed

I felt all the blood in my sluggish veins drain away from my face. "Stiles," I choked, "you have to tell them to get away from them! They need to get far away, fast! We need to go! Now!" My hand trembled in his and he squeezed it.

"Ok, ok," he said. He dropped my hand and took my phone to text Scott furiously while I stuffed everything else except my still damp umbrella inside my backpack as he hit 'Send'.

"Why? Who are they?" he asked as I took back my phone and shoved it in my bag before I zipped it up. I grabbed his hand again and left our empty cups to run out into the still-pouring rain.

"Wait!" I yelled as threw my arm across his warm, solid chest. We were almost hit by someone as they pulled out of the drive through and straight through a deep puddle. A cold wave splashed us and I was hit clear up to my waist but we paid no attention. We sprinted to his Jeep, this time we both ran to our own doors and jumped in. Our wet clothes clung to us and we made squishy noises as we buckled up, my umbrella clutched uselessly in my hand.

"What's going on?" he panted as he ran his hands through his hair and sprayed rain water everywhere in the process.

"Fight or flight?" I guessed. "I don't know anything for certain but my instincts are screaming they are dangerous and that Scott and Lydia could be in danger if those guys find them."

"Ok," he said. He licked the rain drops from his lips. "I told Scott to meet us back at my place."

"I'll let Derek and Allison know," I said. I put the umbrella down on the floor, pulled out my phone and texted them as fast as I could as my hands continued to shake.

Stiles started the Jeep and cranked up the heat before quickly making his way onto the road. The rain did not let up the whole way to his house. When we pulled up we were the first ones there. We sprinted into the house and slipped and slid on the tile floor of the entryway. We took off our wet shoes and I hung my backpack on a coat rack by the door before we made our way up to Stiles' room. I forgot my umbrella on the floor of Stiles' Jeep.

"I'll get us something dry to change into," he offered. I nodded as my teeth chattered. I couldn't tell if it was from the adrenaline or the chill. He dug around in his dresser drawers for a minute and then handed me some soft dry clothes, "Sorry, this is the best I can do. You change and I'll go make some hot chocolate, ok?"

"Th-th-thanks," I managed. He followed me to the bathroom door then continued down the stairs as I turned to go change.

He had given me a red and white flannel shirt and grey cotton sweatpants that had a tie around the waist. I debated with myself for about five minutes on whether I should keep my wet underwear and bra on only to have them slowly soak through the dry clothes and ultimately leave embarrassing wet spots on my chest and butt or if I should add them to the wet clothes I hoped to put in the dryer and then be self-conscious of being naked under Stiles clothes.

I opted for going completely commando so that I could have all my clothes dried. I stripped and put my under clothes in the middle of the others and then pulled on the clothes Stiles lent me. I had to roll the sleeves up about three times and the pajama bottoms were just ridiculous. I had to roll the waist and the cuffs before they no longer dragged. Then I padded downstairs with my ball of wet clothes. When I stopped to grab my phone, I noticed Stiles had dried the entryway floor and I couldn't help but be impressed with his consideration, which further endeared him in my heart.

I made my way quietly to the kitchen where I found him. I watched him without him knowing it as he poured steaming hot water into two mugs, his wet shirt clung to his shoulders and hugged his lean body. I shivered again. "Stiles?" my voice came out in a squeak and I had to clear my throat as he turned around. "Could I toss these in your dryer, please?" I said, with a little more volume.

"Yeah, sure," he said, determined to only look at my face as his cheeks warmed.

Can he tell I have nothing on underneath or is it simply the fact that I'm wearing his clothes? Paranoid and self-conscious, I set my phone by the mugs and then followed him into the laundry room and put my wet clothes in the dryer and he started it up. "Thank you," I said.

"I'm going to go change while the hot chocolate cools a little. I'll be right back," he said before he headed upstairs.

I grabbed my phone and our mugs of hot chocolate from the counter then sat down at the table. I looked at the photo of the two guys and their car and shivered again. I chanced a sip from my mug and then texted the group.

Me: ETA?

Scott: Lydia and I are almost there, maybe 10 minutes away.

Derek: Me too.

Allison: And me.

Me: Scott, can you tell if anyone is following you?

Scott: Not that I can tell in this downpour.

Me: Ok

As I got up to put my phone back in my backpack in the entry way I met Stiles as he came downstairs. He wore a blue and grey flannel shirt over a grey t-shirt and grey jeans.

"They'll be here in about 10 minutes," I informed him.

He carried his wet clothes, too. "Hey, do you mind if I toss mine in with yours?" he asked.

"It's your house," I shrugged.

I stepped aside to let him pass me in the small entryway when several things happened at once.

As I stepped aside to let him pass, the ball of my foot came down on something hard and sharp. My foot went out from under me and the thing shot out and stopped right in the spot where Stiles' knee came down as he lurched forward to catch me. There was a small crunch and for a split second I thought it was Stiles' kneecap.

"Whoa! Ow!" he exclaimed as he lifted his knee. It was my necklace. It must have come unclasped when I came downstairs to find Stiles. What was strange though was that instead of a pile of black shards there were white granules of broken crystal. "Oh no, I'm so sorry," he said and rubbed his knee. "Are you ok?"

I grabbed my head and swayed. I felt dizzy and heavy and nauseous. I moaned, "Noo..."

"Ok, I've gotcha, I've gotcha," he said. He scooped me up in his arms and carried me to the couch like I weighed hardly anything. He set me down and then squared himself in front of me on his knees so he was eye-level with me. My head began to clear but now it felt like there was a tremendous weight on my chest. I sucked in breath after breath, faster and faster as I panicked at the reality that crashed down on me.

"Stiles," I cried, "I-I remember...everything! Oh, God, no!" I broke down and tears coursed down my cheeks as I struggled to breathe under the invisible weight on my chest. "Can vampires hyperventilate?" I squeaked and started to rise but his hands were on my shoulders to gently keep me down.

"You're not a vampire," Stiles said as he looked me in the eye and tried to distract me.

"Right...then, can transitioning vampires hyperventilate?"

"I don't know. Probably...?"

I put both hands on his shoulders and squeezed in my panic, "I can't breathe! I'm not getting enough air!" I put my feet down on either side of him and again tried to use his shoulders as leverage to stand up.

"No, you're getting too much air," he flinched at the pressure. "You're having a panick attack," he said gently as he continued to push me back down and block me with his body. "I used to get them all the time after my mom died." He told me to breathe slower or put my head between my knees but I couldn't concentrate enough to comprehend what he said. He got in my face and when I finally made eye contact, he said, "You have to calm down! Hold your breath!"

I tried to take slow deep breaths but they were too deep; still too much, too fast. Dizzy, I clenched my eyes shut as my hands and feet started to tingle, then went numb. My grip on his shoulders loosened and I swayed. "Emma!" he said as he gave me a little shake. Then he took my face in both of his hands and forced me to focus on him. I blinked and watched as if in slow motion as his chocolate eyes looked into mine then flickered down to my lips before he licked his own. He looked back up at me determinedly...

And then, he was kissing me...and everything stopped.

My eyes came back into focus as he slowly closed his, and I followed suit when his hands dropped down to rest on top of my thighs. Suddenly I didn't need air anymore. All I needed was this. All I needed was him. He anchored me to this plane of consciousness and I relaxed into his embrace. I let my hands slide down from where they laid on his shoulders down to his chest, where I splayed my fingers before I curled them into his shirt and hauled him closer. As I pulled him forward, he trailed his hands up from my thighs to my waist where his fingers found the edge of the shirt I wore and gently stroked the skin underneath.

His lips parted then he slowly kissed my bottom lip and then parted again as he sampled the top tenderly. And when he kissed my bottom lip again I couldn't help the quiet moan that escaped me. He pressed me into the back cushion of the couch as he reached up to cup my face again and deepened the kiss. His tongue swept past my lips to touch and stroke my own. Overwhelmed by him, I whimpered; he tasted divine and I wanted more.

But the tears that had continued to run down my cheeks now flowed over his fingers still cupping my face, as the crushing reality of what I had escaped only three days before dragged me down from the 60 seconds of euphoria Stiles had just blessed me with. I broke away from his soft, swollen lips with a strangled cry. I still clung to his shirt so that when he sat back I followed his movement forward to bury my face against his neck. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me off of the couch and onto his lap where he kneeled on the floor. He held me tightly as I wept for all that I had lost.


	17. The Path That Got Me Here

Chapter 17: The Path That Got Me Here

I ugly cried into Stiles' shirt until his front door was almost knocked off of its hinges as Derek hurtled into the living room where I sobbed and clutched at Stiles, Scott close on his heels. Both of their eyes flashed, teeth bared, and claws out, ready for a fight.

"Geeze! Take it easy on the door; my dad'll kill me," Stiles said and pulled me closer, his heart pounded at the sudden intrusion.

"What happened? Is she hurt?" Derek ignored Stiles' words and looked around for a threat he could take down.

"No- she- remembered. Everything," Stiles explained.

A girl whom I had to assume was Allison crunched over the crystal grains and stooped to look at them. She took in the chain and bracket of my necklace and the pile of Stiles' wet clothes, "What happened here?" she asked.

I hiccupped and tried to take deep breaths to get ahold of myself so that I could try to explain. Stiles reached around me for a box of tissues that was on an end table beside the couch. Lydia cocked an eyebrow at him. Everyone sat down as I again trumpeted like a baby elephant and blew my nose.

"I s-slipped on it and Stiles crushed it when he caught me and it broke the spell. I did this to myself, but it wasn't supposed to be like this...this wasn't supposed to happen..." I managed.

"A spell?" they chorused at me.

"Like a witch's spell?" asked Stiles.

I nodded and dabbed my eyes with a new tissue. "I'm a witch, or I was a witch, or at least trying to be. I have perfect recall, so I thought it'd be easy. I tried to leave it all behind when I saw," I shuddered but forced my words to come out evenly, "those men- the ones you found at the garage," I looked between Scott and Lydia, "k-kill my brother… right in front of me. I was hiding outside, looking through a window of the abandoned cabin we had been hiding out in- running from them. That's why I tried to forget..." I looked over at Allison and couldn't help the animosity I felt, not only because of what she had done to Derek and Scott before, but because, to me, she was guilty by association. "They're hunters, too, but like Terminator-intense. They travel all over the country killing all sorts of supernatural creatures. They're the Winchesters; Dean and Sam Winchester."

"You have perfect recall?" asked Lydia. I nodded.

"Wait, so do you know who's blood you drank, Emma?" asked Allison, not unnerved at the dark look I gave her.

I nodded, "It was Justin's; my brother's. He had been living off of animal blood when he was seriously injured. Remember they heal faster when they drink human blood but- but- he didn't mean to take so much! He'd never have done it if it wasn't for them. His survival instincts took over and he...but he stopped and he healed me- he stopped before it was too late and he gave me his blood to heal me. That's when Dean and Sam burst in. Justin told me to run, but I didn't have the strength to get far yet and I couldn't leave him!" I defended. "So I snuck around to the window and...watched them...cut off his head." Tears streamed down my face but now that I had started to talk I couldn't stop. Stiles lifted us up onto the couch and held me so that I sat on his lap, my head tucked under his chin.

I continued, "I heard them discussing me and how they needed to track me down before I hurt somebody and they took off out the door. I had to say goodbye to Justin so I snuck back around. But seeing him- broke me- I couldn't bear it- any of it anymore, so I cast a spell to make me forget. That's where things stop adding up..."

I closed my eyes and thought back to when I cast the spell. "I brought the bag of Lethe's Bramble over to the fireplace, took one out, and said the incantation. Then, I held the crystal in the flame..."

"What was supposed to happen that didn't?" asked Scott.

"Or what did happen that wasn't supposed to?" corrected Lydia.

"When the fire goes out the crystal is supposed to turn black and the spell is cast," I said.

"That happened, though," said Derek, "Right?"

"Well, yes, but I was only supposed to forget Justin being killed and him being a vampire and that the whole supernatural world even existed, but, I didn't get to wait for the fire to go out. I heard footsteps on the stairs outside. It could only be them coming back- we were so secluded, so I stuck the crystal in my pocket, ran to the bathroom, and crawled out of the window. We were a few miles outside of town and I'd made it as far as I did before I got hit. I saw the headlights and debated whether it was them or someone who could help me, but I took too long to decide to step out because when I did at the last minute, they hit me. I remember flying through the air and seeing Sam's face squinting into the dark. Maybe they really did think I was a deer because they easily would have found me crawling away from the road. I must have had internal bleeding or something... and that's what..."

"Killed you," Derek growled. "If they hadn't hit you, you'd still be 100% human."

He looked like he wanted to tear them apart but the thought of him in a fight with them shook me. Stiles took my hand and intertwined our fingers. "Derek, don't you dare even think about going after them," I commanded shakily. Stiles squeezed me when I moved to get up. "No, I'm serious. Justin told me about them. He heard about them from the vampire who turned him. There are stories circulating in the supernatural community throughout the country about them, have been for years. They've killed worse than werewolves and vampires... Justin told me one guy said he'd heard they have both been killed at different times but the other brother will bring them back from the dead one way or another," I said with significance. "They've killed fallen angels, demons, and even sent the devil himself back to Hell. They're no joke."

"Stories, Emma," shrugged Derek.

"Even if they are," I rebutted, "better safe and alive then wrong and dead, Derek. Please, promise me you won't go after them- any of you." I looked around and reluctantly concluded with Allison. "They're only looking for me, if you keep your heads down, hopefully they'll leave and won't even know you're here."

"But if they won't leave until they find you...?" began Stiles, unsure of where I was going with this.

I looked at him and pulled our linked fingers to my cheek, but spoke to Allison. "You said you had everything for the cure except the blood of the one from whom I drank, right?"

Allison nodded, "Yeah."

"All I have to do is go back to the cabin and get some of Justin's blood," I finally turned to look at her. "Then you can make the cure and then I'll find them and show them I'm human. They'll leave and I pray to God they'll never return."

"What?!" shouted Stiles and Derek. My ears rang a little as Stiles was so close. "No! No way!" argued Stiles.

"You just told us we had to stay away from them and now you think we're going to let you go to them by yourself?!" growled Derek.

"I don't want any of you getting hurt!" I shouted, clenching my fists.

"Ouch!" winced Stiles; our fingers were still intertwined.

"Oh, sorry! Geeze!" I sat up quickly and massaged his hand and kissed his knuckles in penance. Cradling his hand to my chest, I held his eye and whispered, "I couldn't bear the thought of any of you getting hurt or killed because of me. I've already lost so much, if I lost you, too..." I closed my eyes and another tear ran slowly down my cheek. I looked into his eyes again, "I'd rather die..."

Stiles leaned forward and kissed the tear away. "And how do you think I'd feel? Or Derek? Or any of us, if we let you go and possibly sacrifice yourself?"

"We'll go with you," said Allison, firm. "Stiles and I. We're the only humans you know who can vouch for you. If they are honorable hunters, they won't hurt innocent humans."

"They've killed angels, Allison!" argued Scott.

"Only if you believe the stories," said Lydia, rolling her eyes. "Angels?"

"A few years ago werewolves, kanimas, banshees, voids, and kitsuné were just stories and up until a few days ago, so were vampires. Are angles really so far-fetched?" argued Stiles.

"Wait," Scott cut across Stiles' and Lydia's argument, "do they know you're a witch?"

"I don't see how," I said. "They were focused on vampires- they saw Justin giving me his blood and I think that's all they were focused on."

"So you don't know?" bit Derek. I flinched.

"It's the best plan," I argued. "They're intense but, I have to hope they'll see I'm not a threat to anybody after I'm cured and let me go."

Derek shook his head, "I don't like it."

"Emma'll have us," said Stiles and gestured between him and Allison.

Derek sighed, "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Well...yeah," said Stiles as though that were obvious.

Derek rolled his eyes.

"Um, one more thing," I said. "My name's not Emma.


	18. The Extended Version

Chapter 18: The Extended Version

Stiles was the first to speak after a minute. "So, what is your name?"

"My name is Xayne Burnell. I was named after my dad. He spelled his name Z-a-n-e, but mine is X-a-y-n-e. My mom said that was the girl way to spell it and they would joke that with the different spelling at least we would know who we were talking about on paper," I explained with a sad smile.

"So who is 'EW'?" asked Stiles. "Was that even your hat?"

"Yeah, it's mine, well, actually it's my friend Bonnie's mom's. She'd lent it to me once and I just hadn't given it back. The 'E' was actually a faded 'B'; 'BW'. Bonnie, Elena, and Caroline were my first friends when we moved to Mystic Falls. We had just buried Elena's parents maybe a week before Justin and I fled from the Winchesters."

"So, are you Wiccan?" asked Lydia.

"Uh," I said, thrown off guard, "no, I just practiced. With Wiccans it's a religion whereas Witchcraft is a practice," I explained.

"Have you always been a witch?" asked Stiles.

"No. I was sort of 'introduced' back when I was in middle school. We had a computer class and students from the high school could come in to teach us for extra credit. There was this girl, Willow, she was about as shy and nerdy as you could be. We bonded over our geekiness." I told my story with unfocused eyes, but I could still feel Stiles' arms around me. "I excelled in the computer classes and got moved to a high school-level course. Then our labs got severely damaged in an earthquake and so I had to go to the high school for my computer classes until the middle school had the funds to replace all the computers.

It seemed like every time I was there some bizarre stuff would happen. There were these weird shell-less crab things that took over people's bodies like pod-people, but Willow and her friends managed to kill them all. There were werewolf attacks and vampire attacks it seemed like all of the time. There was even a giant bug thing once towards the end of my eighth grade year. It was crazy. Anyway, by then Willow had really started showing her powers. When I found out she was a witch it's like everything clicked- all the weird stuff, so I asked her to teach me during my classes instead. Then they graduated and it got harder to meet with her regularly. When we managed to, we would get together at this place called The Magic Box. I was a frequent customer and I'd sit and read the books when I was in between saving up to buy them and I'd over hear so many things. Willow had her strengths but also her weaknesses and I think I followed in her footsteps." A little too closely, I thought to myself. I realized I had done exactly what she had when she had caused her girlfriend, Tara, to leave her (even down to screwing up the spell).

"It was just another reason I wanted to forget it all. You see, I grew up Christian and practicing witchcraft was not approved of. I justified it, though," I laughed bitterly. "I thought if I only used it to help people that it wouldn't hurt anyone. Because how could it be bad to 'help' people? I thought I was so clever, like I was outwitting God..." I rolled my eyes at myself. "So I hid it from my parents. Justin was the only one who knew and I only told him a few years before he joined the Army. We left Sunnydale before I started high school. Not long after, we heard that the whole town had collapsed into a sinkhole called the Hellmouth. Anyway, we moved to Mystic Falls, Virginia where Justin was stationed."

I paused and swallowed thickly. Stiles squeezed my hand. I looked up into his eyes and squeezed back with a sad smile. He kissed my forehead when I looked back down at our hands and continued with my story. "Justin had been deployed a few times already to places that were considered safe, but his last deployment was to Benghazi, 2012." Realization dawned on their faces as I continued. "He was fatally injured in the attacks but he survived because he was turned. Actually, the only ones who survived did so because they were turned. When he got back state-side, they awarded him the Purple Heart. It took him a while to learn control and only then did he come home when he knew the Winchesters were after him. He had hoped we could protect each other- I had gotten pretty powerful back in Sunnydale, although, in the end it didn't do any good," I said, bitterly. "He compelled our parents to forget us and told them to sell their house and travel- they'd always loved to travel-," my voice faded away as another tear slipped down my cheek.

Everyone was silent for a minute to absorb the fact that I had parents who did not remember me; did not know I even existed. I had parents who would never remember me unless they were freed from their compulsion. And the crux was that at this rate that would never happen. Ididn't even know where they were or how to find them and free them. Grief squeezed my heart.

"Why were they so adamant about killing your brother- did he do something?" asked Allison, not indelicately.

I thought of her reaction when Derek had bit her mom and the end results of that. "No, he didn't do anything," I said, defensive at the thought. "But to tell this part of Justin's story I'd have to say it started back during World War I. There was a unit that called themselves the Harlem Hellfighters. During one battle in Séchault, France, their unit was pinned down in the trenches when they were surrounded by mustard gas bombs. Their Corporal was a vampire named Mercel and when he saw that half of his unit was dying from the gas he turned them. They went on to kill every German soldier they came across by draining them dry. One of Marcel's men was named James. He would later continue to rejoin the Army over the years and eventually would have become a General but he kept compelling everyone to forget except those he turned to save their lives. He gave his dying men a choice; some chose it, while others chose to die. He was Justin's Sergeant and the one who turned him."

"Is he still doing it?" asked Allison.

I shook my head, "He was killed when a piece of shrapnel decapitated him in Benghazi. He was running from soldier to soldier offering to save them when it happened. He couldn't get to all of them and since they were immediately without an Alpha, they scattered. While Justin was trying to learn control, he was also searching for a nest that would take him in; it was like some vampire instinct. He found one and like the beastiary said, since he was the newest member, he was sent out to do the hunting.

The last time, when Justin got back, the whole nest had been destroyed. He found one member he hadn't even learned the name of yet who managed to tell him that an old member of the nest, Benny, and the hunter, Dean Winchester, were responsible for the massacre. They had done it in revenge for their creator killing the woman Benny loved long before and for sending him to purgatory. Somehow Benny came back for revenge and was killed again in the fight. He told Justin that he should run right as Dean came back. Justin escaped while Dean killed the other vampire and that's when Justin came to find me. I think Dean thought that Justin was a part of the nest back when Benny was wronged and felt obligated to his friend to kill him and finish off the whole nest.

So Justin snuck home, helped me pack as he told me all of this; everything he knew, compelled our parents and we'd been running ever since. On our own, not knowing much about vampirism, we made up a lot of stuff as we went along. He started hunting animals as we kept moving away from Mystic Falls to the west so that there wouldn't be any strange murders for the Winchesters to follow. He never let me watch him, though. He had noted that he wasn't as strong as when he had had human blood. We had managed to stay away from them for months before they found us at that cabin. Justin had been out hunting when they found him and they fought. They almost killed him but he managed to escape back to the cabin." I looked up at Derek, "The only entertainment we had was an old battery-operated radio that could only pick up one Oldies station." Derek's face softened when he realized where I was going. "'Yesterday' was playing when Justin burst in and it was still playing when they killed him."

My eyes were downcast as I pictured what happened next. "When he burst through the door that night... his eyes had gone blood red and he had what looked like black veins that pulsed all around them at the sight of me. It scared me more than anything in my life. He just screamed, 'I'm sorry, Xayne but I have to-!' before he was on me, tearing into my shoulder. He was able to stop before I passed out- he tried to explain what happened and how human blood would heal him quicker so that he could protect me. Then he bit his wrist and held it to my mouth and told me to drink to heal so we could run..."

"And that's when the hunters showed up," finished Derek, his eyes full of empathy.

I nodded, "I had recovered enough strength to run out while Justin fought with everything he had, but he still wasn't completely healed...His last words were to tell them to leave me alone and that I was still human... that's when they-," I let the sentence hang, unable to say it again. Stiles wrapped me in his arms and I rested my cheek on his shoulder, my forehead pressed into his neck.

I felt his throat vibrate as he asked, "So where is this cabin?"


	19. Into the Woods

Chapter 19: Into the Woods

Reluctantly I moved my legs to let Stiles up so that he could grab a map. We all followed him into the kitchen and he laid it out on the table after I moved our mugs of hot cocoa. It felt like I had talked for hours so I was surprised that it had only been about 20 minutes and the cocoa was still fairly hot. I handed Stiles his and we sipped on them as Derek searched for and pointed out the general area where he had found me and where we had found the broken turn signal cover lens. I stepped closer and leaned in to point out what was most likely the route I had taken. I started from the lens and went backwards to where I was pretty sure the cabin was.

"I'd have to guess it's around here," I said and pointed in the middle of a highly wooded area. "It might only take about 15-20 minutes to get to here," I said as I pointed at a spot where an old hiking trail crossed the road, "but then we'll have to hike all the way here," I trailed my finger to the spot in the middle of nowhere, "and in weather like this that could take a couple hours or more."

Derek scowled, "I don't like this plan."

"What if they find you again? We won't be able to help you," said Scott as he gestured between himself and Derek.

"The best thing would be for you two to stay away from them," I argued and turned away to Stiles and Allison. "I have clothes back at the motel better suited for a hike, what if we meet there since it'll be on the way out of town?" Now that I had pointed out clothes, I remembered what I didn't have on and crossed my arms.

"Yeah, I'm not exactly dressed for this either," said Allison. She was wearing a cute but short skirt, a leather jacket over a t-shirt, and high heeled ankle boots.

"I'll give you a lift to the motel... Xayne," said Stiles, the first to try out my name. He turned to Allison, "Allison, can you meet us there in 20 to 30 minutes?" He asked on his way out of the kitchen to go put proper footwear on.

"Yeah, I'll see you guys shortly," she said as she spun on her heel and left.

Derek hit the table with his fist and growled, "I still don't like this idea!"

I walked over to him. "Derek," I said and put my hands on his arms and squeezed to reassure him. "What else can we do?"

"We should at least follow you. If it's not safe for us then it's not safe for you," he said irritated but rational.

I sighed and thought a minute, "I suppose you could follow us, but at a distance; they may not have supernatural senses but they might as well have. They notice things that any ordinary human wouldn't, so you'd have to stay well-hidden..." I bit my lip and looked into his eyes, nervous. "If they did happen to show up, you couldn't just rush in all wolfman or they'll shoot first and ask questions later."

"Well, I'm not staying here while everyone else is going traipsing through the woods," said Lydia.

"No, we need you to go get the other ingredients for the cure," said Stiles as he came back down. He wore a warm-looking blue hoodie and a pair of brown leather boots. "Then we can meet back here to make it." He carried his pile of wet clothes and my necklace chain.

"Fine," she said and left without another word.

"What did she mean by 'everyone else going traipsing through the woods'?" he asked as he turned back to me and handed me my chain.

"Derek and Scott are going to follow us but stay hidden, right guys?" I said and turned to address them.

"What? No," argued Stiles.

"We would even if you didn't give us permission," said Scott. He looked at Stiles and they seemed to agree on that, but Stiles didn't seem happy about it either.

The dryer buzzed. "I'll change then and we can go," I said and went to fetch my clothes.

Stiles stood there and looked between Scott and Derek a minute before he shook his head. "I need to put mine in," he said and held up his clothes before he turned to follow me.

I had folded almost all of my clothes and had put them in a pile when he came through the door. I'd already folded my socks, shirt, jacket, and jeans and had just pulled out my underwear and bra as Stiles walked through the door. He took in the clothes in my hand before his eyes flew over to look me up and down before his cheeks bloomed and he huffed an unsteady breath.

He licked his lips, "Sorry, I was-."

I blushed furiously and stuck them on top of the pile before I scooped the lot to my chest. "It's fine- it's just a bra and underwear. What's the big deal?" I'm pretty sure I failed at nonchalance. "I'll go change," I mumbled before I scurried past him.

I rushed upstairs to change with vampire speed. For lack of a better place to put it, I put the necklace on before I folded the clothes Stiles had lent me. I wasn't quite sure what the etiquette was for borrowing someone's clothes for an hour (commando) so I took them to his room and set them on the foot of his bed, then I hurried downstairs. I grabbed my backpack and went to the kitchen to grab my phone and finish my hot cocoa.

"Ready?" I asked the room at large.

They all nodded and we went to the door where I slipped on my still-damp shoes. Stiles opened the door. The rain had finally stopped and the weak autumn sun tried to dry what it could. I followed Stiles to his Jeep and he opened my door again and I smiled at him as I got in. He shut my door and I watched Scott get in Derek's car as I waited for Stiles to get in. He started the Jeep and headed to my motel. I looked down at the empty bracket that hung from the chain around my neck. An idea came to me and I opened my bag's little front pocket to pull out the original Bloodstone and painstakingly fitted it back in. I felt kind of hungry and went in search through my bag for that caramel filled chocolate bar I had bought the day before. I felt Stiles look over at me as I opened the wrapper.

"Want some?" I offered up the bar for him to break off a piece.

"Sure," he said and took a whole row instead.

"Hey!" I cried in fake outrage.

He just grinned and shrugged at me before he bit one square off which caused a little gooey string of caramel to fall over his bottom lip as he focused back on the road.

I pointed at my lip, "You've got a little-."

"What?" He glanced over at me but missed my gesture.

"Here," I said and leaned over to gently swipe my thumb across his lip then licked the caramel off my thumb. I watched his dark chocolate eyes widen a little.

"Th-thanks," he breathed.

"No worries," I said and then pretended that (had I been human) my heart wouldn't be about to pound through my ribs. Instead I got one big thud that I could feel in my throat as I ate my own square and lost the fight against the blush that crept up my neck. We drove the last few minutes in silence as we munched on the chocolate. When we pulled in, Derek and Scott zipped in next to us on my side.

"Be right back," I told Stiles before I hopped out.

I turned to Derek and spoke through the window. I knew that he would hear me. "I'll just be a minute." Then I hurried through the door and to my room. Once inside I prepared my toothbrush first, then walked around with it in my mouth. I brushed every once in a while as I stripped almost everything off. I pulled on the pair of ankle socks with kittens on them and then I shimmied into my denim skinny jeans, stuffed my feet in my dark grey boots, and laced them up. I put fresh deodorant on when I went into the bathroom to spit and rinse. Then I grabbed my black t-shirt and pulled it on, tugging my necklace free. I restyled my messy bun and put my jacket on again and grabbed my backpack.

As I was heading back out to the guys, I noticed bottles of water in the dining room so I grabbed 5 and just smiled politely at the man behind the desk as I walked out of the door. Outside, I saw that Allison had arrived and stood between the two vehicles. Something was slung across her back. I knocked on Scott's window and he rolled it down to receive two of the bottles of water.

"Thanks," he smiled as he passed one to Derek.

"No worries," I smiled back before I headed around to open my door and gave Stiles his before I turned to Allison. "You're riding with us," I said and handed her a bottle. It wasn't a question.

"Ok," she smiled and bent to grab a crossbow before she climbed in to sit in the middle in the back. When she turned I realized it was a quiver full of arrows that she had on her back.

I got in and buckled up before I pulled out my sunglasses. "Alright, let's do this," I swallowed nervously.

We pulled out and headed out of town. We rode in silence and I fiddled with the stone on my necklace until we got to the old hiking trail (I had been right; it only took us 17 minutes). Stiles and Derek pulled well off of the road and we all got out. Allison grabbed her weapon of choice, Stiles considered her and then went to open the back of his Jeep and pulled out a metal bat.

"Please stay out of site," I begged Derek and Scott as we all started down the path.


	20. A Grizzly Mistake

Chapter 20: A Grizzly Mistake

Derek and Scott jogged out on either side of us until we couldn't see them, but I listened to their progress and despite my unease that they'd come, I felt safer with them nearby.

With the branches so bare overhead it made the hike a tad treacherous as we slipped on the wet leaves that covered the slick mud underneath. Allison appeared very sure-footed for a human, especially compared to Stiles who had already slipped twice within the first ten minutes. When he was about to go down a third time 20 minutes later, I reached out and caught him, but even after he found his balance, I didn't let go of his hand. He looked down at me and smiled, his cheeks tinted. We had walked only a little further when I was the one who almost fell. His arm went around my waist and I found myself hauled up against him.

"Thanks," I breathed, as he set me back on my feet.

In response, he bent down and captured my lips in a quick kiss. I blushed and glanced over to see Allison gooey-eyed with a smirk on her face. I found I could smile back at her.

We walked on for several minutes in silence until the path disappeared, but I knew vaguely which direction to head to pick it back up closer to the cabin. We continued through the undergrowth, which was still relatively thick. Allison brought up the rear, her eyes swept where we had come from in case we were stalked by a mountain lion. Stiles and I lead the way and had just climbed what amounted to be an 8 foot tall steep hillock that peaked between two gigantic, mossy tree trunks when a low grunt caught our attention.

Horror dawned on me as I realized there were two, two-year-old Grizzly bear cubs not far from me off to our right. A twig snapped and a thunderous roar to our left made us scramble back as their mother charged at us. We spun around to run but we completely forgot the near drop-off the hillock created and we tumbled head over heels to the bottom and landed at Allison's feet.

She fired her crossbow and although the arrow found a spot in the bear's neck, she hardly flinched. She gave a tremendous roar and charged down the hillock through Stiles and I and straight at Allison. She knocked Stiles out of her way with a mighty swipe that made a resounding crack! and threw him into me. He hit me so hard it completely dislocated my shoulder. Allison managed to dive out of the way and into a muddy embankment before she was able to reload and fire off another arrow into the bear's side as she turned to charge again.

Stiles gasped; each breath more shallow than the last. My arm dangled useless and filled with pain as I crawled over to him and struggled to stay calm and assess his injuries as gently as I could with one good arm and my acute hearing.

Meanwhile, Derek and Scott hurtled into the bear from either side and forced her to stop and spin around as she tried to reach them. Allison fired another shot but the bear shifted her head at the last second and the arrow sailed uselessly into a tree trunk some 10 yards away.

Stiles coughed and blood sprayed from his mouth and his lips began to turn blue. He looked at me full of fear and panic, tears welled in his eyes as his hands clutched at his chest. I could hear his heart struggle to pound as his chest cavity began to fill with blood and his lungs gurgled. It appeared he had broken ribs that must have punctured his lungs.

My injured arm moved of it's own accord as my body pulled the limb back into socket. The pain reached a crescendo and I cried out as a loud POP and then sweet release told me my arm was healed. Without hesitation I grabbed the edge of his hoodie and lifted it to below his chin. His chest heaved with the effort to breathe; his breaths were so shallow he panted and each one sounded the death rattle. A bruise, angry purple and black covered his whole sternum.

"Oh, God, Stiles!" I cradled his head in the crook of my arm and pulled his torso onto my lap and did the only thing I knew I could to save his life. I sliced through my free arm's wrist with my teeth and held it to his mouth. I didn't think it was possible for his eyes to get wider as he looked up at me. Tears spilled down my cheeks. "I'm sorry," I whispered, "I don't know what else to do. You'll never make it to the hospital!"

A tear ran down his face as he was unable to take in another breath. He grabbed my wrist with both hands. His dark chocolate eyes bore into mine as his warm mouth sealed around my wound and he began to suck. Everything around us seemed to fall silent. He closed his eyes, but whether it was from pleasure or revulsion I didn't know. My breath hitched at the intimacy of this moment. He drank deeply for several seconds until my wound healed itself. He dropped my hand and I placed it tentatively over his injury. I wanted to feel him heal to reassure myself that it had worked. He managed a shallow breath that rattled loudly. His lungs cleared with each breath that followed and I could feel his rib bones mend and watched as the bruise faded from purple to a pale yellow and then disappeared completely in under a minute. Another tear began to roll down his pale cheek as his breaths became regular and rhythmic again. I wiped it away with the pad of my thumb.

He opened his eyes and looked up at me from where his head still rested in my arm. "You saved me," he rasped and reached up to cup my cheek.

I sighed shakily and whispered, "I'll be human soon so let's not make this habit ok? I can't lose you, too."

He didn't answer with words but instead tugged me down to kiss him. I could taste my own blood on his lips and on his tongue and shivered. I broke the kiss so that I could see him whole again. His hoodie was still up by his chin and we both seemed to realize that my hand still rested upon his chest and we looked down at it. I blushed and started to pull my hand away but he put his larger one on top of mine. I looked back at him as he trailed his hand up my arm and behind my head before he clenched his fist in my hair and pulled me down possessively. I gasped into his mouth and he boldly slipped his tongue over mine which elicited an embarrassing hum from me.

"Are you kidding me?" a voice growled over us which caused us to jump.

I mentally slapped myself. What where we thinking? There was a grizzly bear fight not even 20 feet away and we're over here making out? How stupid!

"I'm sorry," Stiles and I said at the same time, except that he looked at me while I looked up at Derek's still wolfy, angry face. Stiles and I looked around us. Clearly the fight had been all over the place as pretty much all the undergrowth within a 100 foot radius was completely trampled.

"Oh my God, what did you guys do?!" I blurted.

Scott spoke from behind us, "We won," he panted from beside the fallen beast, his features also still wolfed out.

The cubs were long gone, too. Allison leaned against a tree with her hands on her knees a few feet away, her crossbow at her feet. Her hair was disheveled and full of leaves and twigs and she had streaks of mud on her cheek and clothes. Derek and Scott looked even worse, as they both had tremendous bloody claw marks in a couple of places, but I could see they were already nearly healed.

"You were the one who wanted to take on a grizzly, Xayne" Derek joked half-heartedly, "and you're over here with him..." he trailed off and waved a hand over the both of us as though unsure how to word what he saw.

"It was my fault, I'm sorr-," I started, but he cut me off.

"No! Don't you say that you're sorry! You saved my life! I'm glad you did it," he argued back.

"Wait, what do you mean? What did you do, Xayne?" asked Scott as he stumbled over to us.

"I had to- I had to do it. He was dying," I repeated. "The bear broke Stiles' ribs and they punctured his lungs when she charged us," I pointed at the bear. "I had to do something or he'd have died- I had to help him," I said.

"She saved my life," Stiles defended me. He pulled his hoodie down and stood up and then helped me off the ground. "I'd like to think you'd rather focus on that fact than the how."

"She did it, didn't she?" asked Allison. She didn't sound mad, just scared. "She gave you her blood to heal you." That time it wasn't a question.

Stiles clenched his jaw. "She saved my life, that's what she did," he said again, firm. "And as long as nothing happens to me everything will be fine; no harm no foul."

"That's not exactly how I'd describe it, would you, Sammy?" a voice rumbled from further up the path.

We all spun around to see Dean and Sam Winchester as they aimed two guns at us and clutched a machete, respectively. They stood where the path picked back up; right between us and the cabin only a few yards away.


	21. I'm No Leach

Chapter 21: I'm No Leach

"Vampire blood stays in your system for days, like THC, man," rumbled Dean.

I used all the speed allotted me to leap in front of my friends. I held up my hands to the Winchesters as though that would stop them if they took action or came any closer.

"Wait! Please!" I yelled, only to notice that Derek and Scott already flanked me and were poised for a fight with their fangs bared and claws spread wide. I could feel Stiles close behind me and heard his heart beating furiously. Allison circled off to one side trying to come at them from behind.

"No, guys, put those away!" I said as I spread my arms wide, a hand on each of Derek's and Scott's chests to block them behind me.

Dean and Sam glanced at each other and then between us, weapons still raised. Sam spoke but didn't take his eyes off of the four of us in front of him and Dean. "You can stop trying to sneak around us; we know you're there."

Allison stepped out from behind a huge trunk about 15 feet away from us but with a grim look of determination, she kept her crossbow leveled at the two men.

I groaned, "Allison, please lower that thing?" "Everyone just calm down! Let's talk, ok? Can we do that without trying to kill each other? Please?" I looked around at everybody, all still in fight-mode; even Stiles had found his bat and stood there ready to swing it at the their heads if the situation called for it. When still no one moved after a full minute had passed, I spoke again. "Alright, fine, you don't trust us and we don't trust you; understandable. So I'll just make this quick," I said. I took a tentative step forward, still with my hands up. Everyone readjusted. "Whoa! Easy! Look, you're after me, right? Because you think I'm a vampire and I'll hurt people, but I'm not! I haven't bitten anyone! I've only fed on animals and-"

"It's been three days. You expect us to believe you haven't bitten a single human? Nice try," rumbled Dean. He pointed his machete at me. "We saw you with your little boy toy there rollin' around," he gestured at Stiles, "and you're telling us you haven't bitten him?"

My face burned but I held my ground, "No, I have not."

"It's true!" said Stiles. "We've been with her since she woke up in transition. She still gets over whelmed by the heightened senses and she can still eat regular food."

"Look at the signs," spoke up Allison. "She still has control. She's not trying to tear you or us apart; Stiles and I are human, too."

"And she saved my life back there- there was a bear. It broke my ribs and punctured my lungs. She didn't hurt me, she saved me. She hasn't hurt any one," chimed Stiles.

"Why is she leading you back to her nest, then? You've all probably been compelled," argued Sam.

"No! It's not like that!" I said, anger fueled my volume. "I- we were- you killed my brother three days ago in that cabin," I pointed behind them.

"He was turning you," growled Dean.

"He was saving me!" I screamed. "You had fought him earlier, right? He wouldn't have been able to protect us in his condition and he had been living off of animal blood. He needed human blood to heal faster so we could escape, so he bit me, but he never would have if you hadn't... It had just been so long since he'd had human blood that it was hard for him to stop, but he did! He gave me his blood to heal me- to save me. Then you showed up," I said full of bitter resentment and, I felt, righteous indignation. "And you hit me with your car that night, not a deer. I died because of it. You killed me and that's why I'm in transition now." I angrily swiped at a tear. I was an angry crier, and that fact made me even angrier.

At least they hadn't shot us (yet?). Dean and Sam looked at each other again out of the corner of their eyes. "Then why are you coming back to your-," started Dean, but I cut him off.

"This isn't my nest!" I snapped. "We know a cure and the last ingredient we need is- the blood of the one I drank. We're here to get my brother's blood."

"What about them?" Sam gestured with his guns at Derek and Scott.

They growled and again I put my hands on their chests. "They're," I searched for the right word, "protectors of Beacon Hills. The only ones they are a threat to are other supernatural beings who threaten the humans of this town. They're the good guys here... Just like you're supposed to be." I felt pleasure at the goad.

I could tell they were surprised and again glanced at each other without turning their heads. They took a few seconds to communicate silently before they slowly lowered their weapons and stood up straighter. "If what your saying is true, and you really haven't fed on a human, then we can help with the cure."

Allison finally lowered her weapon but kept her finger near the trigger before she asked, "What do you know about the cure?"

"I helped make it once-," said Sam.

"For me," said Dean.

I couldn't help the small hopeful bubble that filled my chest. I was still furious, but I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth. "You mean you were...and it worked?"

"Well, I'm no leach," he smiled at me, condescendingly

"Neither am I," I growled at him.

"That's the spirit, Kiddo," he grunted at me and turned in the direction of the cabin.


	22. Killer Cure

Chapter 22: Killer Cure

We followed them back to the cabin. When we got closer I could smell the old blood and days old flesh of my beloved brother and my stomach knotted. My hands started to shake and my breaths were shallow. Stiles' warm hand found mine and he squeezed. "You don't have to go in, Xayne. One of us can," he offered. "You're not going to want- not after all this time..."

"I'll get it," rumbled Dean.

"I'll go with you," Allison said. She now held her crossbow loose by her side. She walked up the steps behind Dean and leaned it against the outside wall beside the door frame.

"Suit yourself," he shrugged again and opened the door without further discussion.

Derek and Scott came over to us and as soon as they had gone in I hurriedly whispered to Scott to text Lydia and let her know what was going on and to stay away. Sam watched us and I shot him a tight lipped smile until the smell found me. My eyes watered as it washed over us. Stiles doubled over and tried not to wretch, and Derek and Sam moved further away. Scott used the distraction to pull out his phone and fire off a text to Lydia in under 5 seconds. I grabbed Stiles' hand and pulled us over to a high window away from the open door. I could see Dean and Allison with their noses and mouths covered as they bent down in the middle of the room below the window frame and out of my line of sight.

I cleared off a small spot on the dirty window and squinted past them to see a blackened mass puddled on the hearth. I realized it was the bag of Lethe's Bramble I had left in my haste to get away. It looked like a spark must have landed in the bag and the whole thing had burned and melted into a blob of ashes and plastic. That had to be the reason I had forgotten everything instead of only what I had intended. I turned away with a huff at the fate of it all to see that Stiles had watched me. In the end, though, the awry spell was totally worth it, I thought with a small smile.

"What?" asked Stiles.

I explained what I had deduced as Dean came back out with a glass that I recognized from one of the cabinets inside and Allison sprinted out of the door to quietly loose her lunch behind a tree. The blood inside the glass was thick and dark and my stomach twisted again. This was going to be harder than I'd thought. I clutched at Stiles' arm and swallowed audibly.

"It'll all be over soon," he soothed in my ear.

"Come on," Dean tilted his head for us to follow him and Sam further away from where we had come.

Derek spoke for the first time, "Where are you going?"

"We've got the rest of the stuff in our car," Sam explained and indicated we should follow them.

Derek glanced at Scott, they both looked doubtful and gave each other a nod as they discretely extended their claws but followed anyway. Allison wiped her mouth and grabbed her crossbow. She slung it across her back with the few arrows she had managed to recover in her quiver and fell in behind Scott. When she came closer, I handed her a stick of the cinnamon gum from my backpack and gave her an empathetic smile.

They all looked uncomfortably at me and waited. I took a deep breath, squeezed Stiles' hand and followed what was hopefully a cure and not a trap. We walked for several yards before we reached a dirt road that I knew twisted for miles before it dumped out on a back stretch of highway surrounded by more woods. At the start of the path and end of the road was their black 1967 Impala. Dean patted it as he walked by before he reached into his jacket pocket to get his keys. By the time he had turned the key to pop the trunk, we had all formed a half-circle behind them. I glanced around at my friends; Derek scowled and crossed his arms to hide his claws, Scott had shoved his hands in his jacket pockets to do the same, Allison looked relaxed but could easily swing her crossbow forward in a second, and Stiles' knuckles were white as they clutched his metal bat. He looked casual but I could sense the tension he had coiled in his muscles, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

While I had watched them, they had been scrutinizing the contents of the Winchesters' trunk. "What the-?!" I said startled to see a Devil's Trap painted on the underside of the trunk door, a large assortment of weapons, and the secret door that hid all sorts of ingredients and first aid paraphernalia. Stiles' grip on my hand tightened when I started to step forward to see what all they had. I turned to look at him and gave him the best reassuring smile I could muster. Allison and I both came forward to watch their method. Dean watched with us as Sam worked. He mixed in ingredients with the blood. It didn't take him long before he handed me the glass. It looked like the black sludge from an oil change 3,000 miles overdue. Everyone looked at me.

"It's legit, you have our word as hunters. Ever since I was almost changed we've kept the ingredients with us at all times...except the blood, of course, as it's circumstantial," explained Dean gently.

I took off my backpack, surprised it had been on my back through the whole bear ordeal. My mouth was dry. I licked my lips and took the glass.

"Try not to think about it; drink it fast," he suggested. "Bottoms up, Kiddo."

I clenched my eyes and held my breath as I tipped the glass to my lips. I drank deep and managed to swallow it all. I fought to ignore the putrid taste. I opened my eyes and gagged as the flavor finally registered. I spit on the ground and struggled to keep the rest of it down. I covered my mouth with both hands until the heaving of my stomach subsided. Dean and Sam walked around me to stand with my friends. The group at large backed up a few paces as the Winchesters urged them.

"Did it work?" asked Stiles as he looked between them and me. I looked at them and they just looked back at me and waited.

"I don't-," I started but had to spin away from everyone to hurl a spectacular arch of what appeared to be bright red blood.

"Yeah, it's working," Dean and Sam said at the same time.

I fell to my knees and tried to catch my breath. I clutched my stomach and screamed through clenched teeth. It was absolute agony; worse than anything I'd ever felt before. I desperately wanted unconsciousness to swallow me, but no relief would come until it was done. With one horrible gut-wrenching spasm, my eyes flew open and I gasped. Despite my streaming eyes, I saw Dean and Sam hold everyone back, but they had stopped at once when I'd opened my eyes. Everything looked red and my fangs burst through my gums, fully extended. There was a tingle in my face that I'd never felt before, like all the blood vessels there had risen to the surface of my skin and were furiously pumping blood. Another searing pain shot through me and I curled into myself and squeezed my eyes shut against the pain.

Suddenly, I saw flashes of memories:

Stiles as he struggled to get to me past Sam.

Dean and Sam as they aimed their weapons at me and my friends.

Stiles as he sucked the blood from my wrist.

The mother bear as she charged us.

Stiles as he eyed me while I held my underwear.

Our kiss to stop my panic attack.

I writhed on the ground now and groaned.

Stiles' as he crushed the bespelled crystal.

When I saw the picture of the Winchesters on my phone.

When I watched Stiles watch me eat his last fry.

When I watched him sleeping.

Him when he pointed to his lips to tell me about the ink on mine.

When I hunted the elk with Derek.

When we found the place where I died.

I was still wracked with pain but I collapsed on the dirt road and I could feel my limbs as they twitched. I struggled to breathe but my lungs would not obey.

When I found everyone at Lydia's.

When I healed the buck.

When I shopped.

The salons.

Stiles and my first kiss.

When I sat at Lydia's vanity while she painted my face.

When I met Lydia.

When the guys and I stood around a phone as I found out what was happening to me.

When I jumped the mountain lion.

When I straddled Stiles as I breathed in his delicious scent of blood and chocolate for the first time.

My whole body twitched as though in a grand mal seizure as I panicked, now desperate for oxygen.

When I was discovered by Derek at the base of the tree where I had died.

Sam as he squinted into the dark as I flew through the air when they hit me.

When I burned the Lethe's Bramble and chanted the spell as I held the white crystal in the flames.

When I peeked through the window as Dean swung his machete to cut off Justin's head.

Justin as he held his wrist to my mouth and I drank his blood.

Him when he burst through the door and sprung on me and bit my shoulder.

I gasped, finally able to suck in a breath, and my eyes flew open again. Immediately I could tell that everything was different. My body was still except for the great gulps of air I sucked in. I felt weak, but my heart thundered within my chest. It made me a little dizzy. The world around me was dull, blurry, and so quiet. I blinked several times to clear my vision. I groaned and struggled to sit up. Dean and Sam seemed satisfied that I was safe and let everyone go. Stiles reached me first and helped me sit up, Derek and Scott close behind, with Allison right behind them.

"I can't see," I said, my voice sounded gravely. I squinted around for my backpack.

"Here," said Stiles. He grabbed my bag and handed it to me.

I gratefully took it and dug around inside until I found what I needed. I slipped my glasses out of the plastic bag and put them on before I grabbed my water and drank deeply.

"How do you feel?" asked Derek as I drank.

"You tell me," I grinned after I'd downed the entire bottle. I dug around for some gum while I waited.

He cocked his head for several seconds to listen to my heart as it slowed to its normal, human pace. I'd never seen a grin so big on his face, even when we had hunted together. He bent down to scoop me up bridal style into his arms and spun me around. I laughed, especially when he set me down on my feet and Stiles, Scott, and Allison just stood there and gawked. I felt giddy at being me again, so much so that I turned and ran towards Dean to thank him but my legs were still wobbly and I stumbled. I would have fallen flat on my face at his feet but his hunter reflexes had his arms around me and he held me up.

"Yeah, I'd definitely say you're human, Kiddo," he grinned.

I blushed as I looked up into his eyes.

"I think that's just Xayne," said Derek.

"Shut up," I said with absolutely no malice. I got my booted feet back under me and wrapped my arms around Dean, the top of my head tucked under his chin. "Thank you."

He awkwardly patted my back a few times before I spun around and threw my arms around Sam's torso. Good grief that man was tall.

"And thank you," I said.

"You're welcome," I heard Sam rumble somewhere over my head.

I let him go, now with only one person on my mind. I looked around to see Stiles with a huge smile on his face as I ran at him. I intended to wrap my arms around him only I slipped on more wet leaves that covered the slick mud and instead I tackled him to the ground. With our arms around each other, we both grunted as we landed. I accidentally swallowed my gum, but I didn't care. My head was on his shoulder, my ear at his throat, just like when I first woke up. I heard his heartbeat and although I couldn't smell his blood anymore, I could still smell a hint of chocolate and hummed with delight.

"Definitely just Xayne," I heard Derek say.


	23. Best Served Cold

Chapter 23: Best Served Cold

I completely ignored everyone else and teased my lips up the side of Stiles' neck before I ever so gently nibbled his earlobe. He gasped as he scrunched his shoulders and tightened his arms around me.

"Did you just bite me?" he murmured in my ear.

"'Biting's excellent. It's like kissing only there's a winner'," I whispered back with a generic British accent.

He laughed out loud, "What?"

I grinned, "Tell you what," I said as I pushed myself off of him awkwardly and made my way to my feet, "As it turns out, I actually haven't seen any of the Star Wars movies, so I'll watch them with you if you watch Doctor Who with me."

"Deal," he said without hesitation. He jumped up and brushed off the debris that stuck to him. "You know there's seven, unless you count the Clone Wars, and then there's a new one coming out next year..." he grinned.

"Ha!" I laughed, "by Christmas this year there will be 836 episodes that encompass 263 stories over a span of 35 seasons of Doctor Who, and there's a television movie!" I said as I bounced on the balls of my feet.

"Battle of the nerds," Derek muttered to no one in particular, but I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Are they always like this?" asked Dean.

"It's a new development," explained Allison with a smirk.

Dean continued to stare at Allison as everyone stood around awkwardly for a few seconds before he said, "So what's your story? I mean, she," he gestured at me, "was only passing through, they're the supernaturally-endowed protectors of Beacon Hills," he gestured at Derek and Scott, "he's the token 'regular human'," he waved towards Stiles, "and then there's you."

"I'm a hunter," she said as she held up her crossbow, "Obviously."

Dean looked over at Sam and smirked before he looked back at her, "A hunter, huh? Do any supernatural creatures take you seriously? No offense."

In a flash she lifted her crossbow and fired an arrow right past Dean's head to pin a falling leaf to a tree trunk several yards behind him before he could even move.

"Geeze!" Dean bellowed. "You gotta warn a guy!"

Sam coughed to hide a laugh behind his hand, "I'll bet they take her seriously enough."

Allison smirked at Sam and threw a glare at Dean, who held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright! I'm not gonna argue with an armed hunter," he conceded.

We fell into silence and I looked to the abandoned cabin that had been the last home I'd had with the only family I'd had left who remembered me. The thought of my murdered brother inside sobered me in an instant. The wave of happiness that had rushed in had ebbed away just as fast and all that was left in it's place was anger, bitterness, resentment, sadness, and a loneliness that I dreaded getting "used to".

"We have to burn this place down," I said grimly. "We have to keep this from the rest of the world."

Dean and Sam looked at each other, Dean nodded, "Yeah, we can do that."

"Is there anything inside you want or need?" asked Sam.

"I'd like my stuff and Justin's dog tags," I swallowed the lump that rose in my throat as the thought of where those tags would be, "They'll be..." I stopped when my chin quivered.

"I'll help you with that," offered Sam. I gave a curt nod and we headed to the door. "Hold on just a second," he said to me and stepped in first. He pushed the door to close but it didn't latch and I heard him rustle around inside before I heard running water. After a minute he pulled the door open and gestured for me to come in.

It was a tiny cabin; only three rooms; the kitchen/ living room, the bedroom, and the bathroom. My eyes were drawn to where my brother lay like macabre magnets, but Sam had mercifully covered him with my green and orange plaid fleece blanket from the bedroom. I felt my lip tremble and angrily swiped at a tear that had fallen. I didn't want to show him any more weakness than I already had.

"Here," said Sam. He held out Justin's dog tags. "I washed off..." his voice trailed off. "I'm really sorry about your brother," he said sincerely.

I took the tags and just looked at him until he shifted uncomfortably. "Yes well, as much as I miss him- as much as it kills me... unlike some people, I wouldn't bring him back even if I knew how...and I know he wouldn't even want me to try." Then I turned on my heel and headed into the bedroom to gather my clothes and journal that I had packed up with Justin so long ago as we had fled from these very guys.

I made my way over to Justin's side of the room and took his army green and black fleece that had his company name on it and their mascot (a panther). I folded it and tucked it into my bag before I went through his bag to find some of his company t-shirts and the photograph of our family I knew he had always kept with him. I stared at his face, forever frozen in a smile, his arms around me and our mom, Dad's hand on Justin's and Mom's shoulders. The loneliness that stretched before me made me snap. Call it temporary enrage-ity.

Sam was already outside when I spun around and stormed to a dirty window. He and Dean talked together as they gathered the gasoline to pour in and around the cabin. I supposed they were giving me a moment to gather myself and say goodbye to Justin. I placed a hand flat on the window, angry tears welled and fell as I closed my eyes, "Harken all the elements, I summon thee now. Control the outside, control within. Land and sea, fire and wind. Out of my passions, a web be spun. From this eve forth, my will be done. So mote it be."

I opened my eyes and focused on the two siblings.

They stopped where they stood and stretched out their hands, their eyes went white as they saw what I wanted them to see:

Justin and I playing with matchbox cars, He-Man, and G.I. Joes.

Him saving me when I almost drowned as a child.

The time I fell off the ladder to the attic and he scooped me into his arms to rush me to our mom.

The time I spilled a cup of red koolaid on the carpet and he helped me clean it up so I wouldn't get in trouble.

How he would hold my nose to wake me up every Christmas and whisper-yell, "Santa Clause came!" so we could investigate our presents before waking up our parents.

The times his friends would try to pick on me and how he stood up to them to defend me "...because my sister isn't as lame as yours!"

When he lifted me up so that I could make a basket when he first taught me to play basketball.

Him teaching me how to play Blitz for squares of our dad's homemade peanut butter fudge.

When he fell very ill and we stayed in the hospital praying for him to pull through.

When he left for boot camp and how I missed him so much I slept in his room.

When he finally came home from his deployments and I'd be the first to tackle him at the door with a huge hug and tears...

"Remember who I remember. Feel what I felt. Love who I loved. Never forget who you took from me!" I could no longer hold the dam of tears as they poured down my face. My friends had surrounded Dean and Sam and it was Stiles who first turned to look back at the cabin to search for me. He spotted me at the window and turned to come for me. "Let the healing power begin. Let my will be safe again. As these words of peace are spoken, let this harmful spell be broken," I said. I removed my hand from the window and retreated back to the bedroom.

Stiles rushed in and came over to squat down in front of me where I sat on the edge of the bed. I looked down at my hands but he gently took my chin to get eye contact. "Xayne, what the hell was that?" he asked, not unkindly. I still couldn't stop the tears but when I looked into his eyes my rage was immediately extinguished and I fell forward onto his lap and buried my face into his neck. His arms wrapped around me automatically and he rested his cheek on top of my head. That's how everyone found us a few minutes later.

"What was that, Xayne!?" Sam yelled.

"So you're a witch?!" said Dean with disgust, "where are they?"

"What happened?" said Derek loudly.

"Hey!" Stiles barked and everyone fell silent, "Shut up and give her a moment."

The things this boy did that melted my heart... I clutched him tighter and tried to calm down. After a minute, I kissed his collarbone and leaned back just far enough to meet his eye. "Thank you," I whispered.

He wiped away the last of my tears with his thumbs before he leaned his forehead to mine, "Always," he whispered back.

Dean grew impatient, "Where are they, Xayne?"

Reluctantly I pulled away from Stiles to look up at Dean. "Where're what?" I asked, genuinely confused.

"The hex bags. Where're the hex bags?" he growled.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," I said.

"Don't play dumb, Xayne, it doesn't suit you," spoke up Sam.

I just blinked at him.

"How did you work your mojo on us from in here- where're the hex bags?" Dean repeated, frustrated.

"I used a spell- nothing else. I don't even know what a 'hex bag' is. Honest!" I said, also frustrated.

Dean and Sam looked at each other. "How is that possible? How old are you?"

"I just turned 18 a few days ago- the day I died, actually," I glared at him.

"Your real age," said Sam as he rolled his eyes.

I looked back at him and frowned, "What are you- I'm 18- that is my real age!"

"No," was all Dean could manage and shook his head.

"You know what? Believe whatever you want. I didn't use anything but an incantation. I said the counter and it's done. I did it so that you never forget that there are always two sides to a story and that sometimes it pays to find out what the other side is so you don't rob someone else of having their loved one with them despite the form they may take. It's done," I repeated and removed myself from Stiles' lap and grabbed my old bag and Justin's photograph off of the bed before I marched to the door. "Let's get this over with." I made my way outside and put my bags together before I picked up the gas can as everyone else came out.

Dean and Sam continued to frown at me. "We'll do that," said Dean and snatched the can from me.

"Fine," I snapped back.

Sam grabbed another can from their car and he walked around the outside while Dean went inside to douse everything left. They came back to our group by the car and set down the gas cans. Dean pulled out a book of matches.

"I got it," I said and lifted my hand. "Ignis," a ball of fire flew from my palm and through the still open front door. I ignored the look Dean and Sam gave each other and searched out Stiles beside me as an inferno erupted inside. He put his arm around me and pulled me close to kiss the top of my head. We stood in silence as the fire spread to the outside. It followed the path of gas that surrounded the cabin Sam had poured. After about 5 minutes the whole thing blazed. About 20 minutes after that, the whole structure collapsed and the fire started to burn itself out.

The others started to fidget so I lifted my hand and said, "Suctus Incendia," to extinguish the flames, which got Dean and Sam all agitated again, but I ignored them and put both of my hands out. "Phamatos Tribum, Melan Veras," I called the surrounding flora to cover and consume what was left of the cabin and my beloved brother. "Phasmatos Tribum, Melan Veras," I repeated as a huge redwood sprouted up and swallowed the small space like it had been there for a hundred years.

"Xayne!?" Stiles yelled next to me, but it sounded as if he were far away. I felt my knees give away beneath me. Such a huge expenditure of energy after whatever it was my body had to go through to become human again and then to cast such spell work had drained me and I felt myself falling into a well of unconsciousness. My last thoughts were that if this had weakened my powers to the breaking point, it had been worth it for Justin and at least the Winchesters would have no reason to harass me ever again. And then I let go and blackness consumed me again.


	24. Recovery

Chapter 24: Recovery

I was in and out of consciousness; the first time I came to, I registered that I was in somebody's vehicle and my head was in someone's lap. I managed to mumble, "No hospital..." before I was swallowed by darkness. When I temporarily resurfaced again, I heard Stiles ask Scott to bring his mom in to check me over. Later, a sharp pinch in my arm pulled me into consciousness. "Stiles?" I croaked. But it was a woman's gentle voice that reassured me.

"It's ok, Xayne. I'm Nurse McCall from Beacon Hills Hospital- Scott's mom. You're..." but I faded so fast that was all I could get before I was gone again.

"...it's been well over 24 hours." I heard someone whisper. There was no reply. Then, "No, there's still half a bag left from last time. I'm just- I hate that there's nothing I can do." He or she must have been on the phone. Then suddenly they didn't whisper anymore as they said in disbelief, "I don't care if skin to skin contact has been proven to heal, I will not molest her..." It was Stiles. "Dude, she's unconscious, therefore I don't have her consent- ugh! why am I even still talking to you?!" he said in disgust and hung up.

I tried to swallow but my mouth was dry. "Stiles?"

His face came into view before me. "Hey," he whispered and reached up to brush my hair out of my face. "How're you feeling?"

"Thirsty," I choked out. He moved away and I heard him fix up a glass of water for me. He came back and held a straw to my lips. I tried to drink just a sip but once I started I couldn't seem to get enough and finished the whole thing in seconds.

"More?" he asked. I nodded. I drank two more cups before my thirst was quenched. "Are you hungry?" he asked me. I hadn't noticed until he mentioned it and my stomach growled loudly before I could even respond. He gave me an empathetic smile as he said, "Ok, wait here," before he disappeared from my line of sight.

Where would I go? I thought, rueful, then I remembered that I literally had nowhere to go. Where will I go? What am I going to do? Panic throbbed in my throat and made it hard to swallow. I was sluggish as I tried to sit up.

"Hey, whoa, let me help you," said Stiles as he came back over. He helped me adjust the pillows and get into an upright position.

I noticed my glasses on the nightstand and put them on. There was a ding from across the room and he went to the little kitchen nook that held a mini fridge, a microwave, and a coffee maker. He opened the microwave and pulled out a little travel cup of Campbell's soup. He stirred it up with one of the plastic coffee straws before he put the lid back on and then brought it over to me. I sipped and felt the warmth flow all the way down to my stomach, which growled again.

"It's chicken noodle," said Stiles. "Scott's mom said the broth would be the best on your stomach since it's been so long since you ate solid food. She's a nurse; she's the one who changed your clothes and put you on a saline drip. She said your body was exhausted and dehydrated."

I looked down to see a different t-shirt than I'd last put on, then peeked under the blanket to see a pair of black sweatpants that I knew said Army Sister in white down one leg and a panther emblem on the other hip. I covered back up and took another sip before I asked, "What day is it?" My voice was still raspy.

He looked across the room at the dim glow of the digital clock, so I glanced too. 12:34 a.m. glowed back at us. "It's officially the 29th. You've been mostly unconscious for about 30 hours. We've been taking turns to come sit with you, waiting for you to wake up." My brow furrowed in question. "Scott, Lydia, Allison, Derek, and I," he answered. I realized then he also had different clothes on from the last time I saw him. He had on dark blue jeans and a navy t-shirt under a red and navy flannel.

My stomach growled again, so I took another sip of soup. "What happened?" I asked.

"Well, after you, uh... grew that tree... you got a really bad nose-bleed and passed out. Those Winchester guys fought with us- verbally!" he clarified when what little color I had gained back drained away so fast I felt dizzy again. "They wanted to take you away but we refused. Round and round it went (I'll spare you the details) before they finally relented when they got a call and said they had to go but they'd be back soon."

"Why?" I asked, irritated by what I saw as just plain meddling at this point.

"To," he raised his fingers in air quotes, ""follow-up on the situation at hand.""

"There may not even be a "situation" for them to follow-up on," I said, irritated.

"What do you mean?" Stiles asked.

Unsure of the accuracy of my suspicions, I took a drink of the soup and caught a noodle. I chewed it slowly before I answered. "With everything that happened- the transition to almost-vampire then forcing the reversal back to human, then the level of magic I used in a weakened state, in such close succession... I may have depleted my powers in the end- permanently. From what I read, it's like using your muscles; if you stretch them too far, too fast, they'll rip and tear, but if you slowly stretch and warm them up, you'll be able to strenghten them. Since I've never done anything like that before..." I trailed off.

We sat in silence for a few minutes while I finished the little cup of soup. I wanted to move, at least a little and figured a shower would feel nice. I also realized that I hadn't bought anything to sleep in when I had gone on my little shopping spree; any pajamas were in my old bag from the cabin...and my bladder was fit to burst. I uncovered and swung my feet to the floor. The soup had helped enough that I was pretty sure-footed and clear-headed. "Bathroom," I said in explanation. "Could you grab my bag from the cabin, please?"

"Sure," he said and got up to fetch it for me.

I found the lock on the i.v. and pushed the little wheel to stop the flow. I carefully pulled up the tape that kept it bound to the inside of my elbow and then in one fluid pull I had the needle out of my arm and hung it over the lamp mounted to the wall. I grabbed a tissue to hold to the tiny wound and then made my way to the bathroom. Stiles followed me in to set my bag on the counter. "Call out if you need anything," he said before he shut the door.

After my most urgent needs were met I took a shower and brushed my teeth. Wrapped in a towel, Justin's dog-tags still around my neck, I dug around in my bag to find something clean to sleep in, I came across my old phone buried under everything. Oh yeah! I forgot I had even packed this! I tried to turn it on but it was dead, of course. Justin had only let me bring it for sentimentality; he was paranoid (in my opinion) that somehow we'd be tracked if we ever popped up on social media. I never got to tell my friends goodbye. He'd made me turn it off the moment we left and hadn't even let me pack a charger. It's all moot now, Bubby. I thought. I bet my new phone's charger would work on it... I yawned, too tired to deal with it now. I put it in a zippered side pocket and dug around again until I found my last clean black sports bra and boy shorts, a black t-shirt that had the outline of a cat in silver across the chest, and dark gray yoga pants that had 'MEOW' across the seat in black.

I moved slow so I wouldn't wear myself out, but by the time I was dressed I was tired and hungry again. I finger-combed my hair and stuffed my dirty clothes in my bag before I left the bathroom. I started to drag myself back to the bed when it finally registered in my brain that the room was full of people. Everyone was there, even a kind-looking woman in magenta scrubs that I'd never seen but assumed was Scott's mom. "Hello," I said to everyone at large, touched that they'd cared to come, because really, they didn't even know me.

They stayed for about an hour. Scott's mom was the first to go. She had just gotten off of work when Scott had called her to let her know that I was awake and she'd wanted to come check on me. She was kind and gentle and in the end, insisted that I have another cup of soup and proceeded to make one up for me and stood there while I drank it. After I'd finished it she said I'd need more sleep, but was pretty much recovered. Lydia and Allison were next to leave. Lydia had had questions about the Winchesters and what it might mean for Beacon Hills to be on their radar, and Allison had let me know she was there for me since she, too, had had an important loss recently in her own life. Scott left after Stiles said he'd stay. Derek never said anything. He'd just hugged me for a solid minute and then nodded at Stiles.

By the time it was just Stiles and me, I was almost asleep where I stood. Stiles guided me back to the bed and I crawled in before I took my glasses off and set them on the nightstand. He turned to go sleep in the easy chair by the desk but I grabbed his hand. "Will you lay down with me? Please? I- I don't want to be alone," I asked, my voice quavered a little. After I spoke those words aloud, the full impact of the last one hit me hard and I could feel the dam about to break.

"Of course," he said. He took off his shoes and flannel shirt and crawled in behind me. He wrapped one arm over me and held my hand while he tucked his other arm under my head to cradle it. I pressed my back into his chest as I cried myself to sleep in his arms.


	25. History

Chapter 25: History

Consciousness reached me slowly. I could tell it was late morning, even with the curtains pulled shut, but I didn't open my eyes right away. I could feel Stiles' warm body pressed into mine, only this time I was the big spoon. I breathed in his salty, sweet boy smell as I buried my face into his back. I sighed and pressed myself closer to him. I'm just a big toasty cinnamon bun. I never want to leave this bed... Uh oh. I have to pee. Think, man, think. Think, think, think. There was no use; I had to get up.

I pressed a kiss to the back of Stiles' neck before I slipped out from beneath the covers. I grabbed my glasses on my way to the bathroom and put them on. I went ahead and brushed my teeth and hair before I peeked out to see that Stiles was still sound asleep. My stomach growled loudly. Quiet, you. I glanced at the clock across the room. 10:25; I still had five minutes to get the free continental breakfast. I slipped on my shoes and grabbed Stiles' flannel to put on over my pajamas on my way out the door. By the time I got to the dining area most everything was picked over. I grabbed a tray, a plate, a bowl, a couple of glasses, and some silverware and started to scavenge what I could find.

By the time the attendant came out to clean everything up I was already headed down the hall back to my room. I'd managed to make two pancakes from the pancake machine; one was perfectly round and as big as my hand, while the other had clearly been the last of the batter and was about the size of a 50 cent piece. There were three pieces of bacon, a handful of scrambled eggs, two sausage links, and a biscuit. The bowl was full of the last scoops of all the cereals, including Fruit Loops, Frosted Flakes, Grape Nuts, and Raisin Bran. There was only a mini carton of skim milk left for the cereal but I grabbed three ramekins each of butter and grape jelly for the biscuit. There hadn't been much of the juices left individually so I mixed the apple and grape to fill up both glasses.

When I reached the door to my room I realized I had forgotten my key card. "Aw shucks," I groused, but it seemed to work like 'open sesame' did for Ali Baba and the door swung open.

"There you are!" said Stiles. He sounded relieved. "I was just coming to look for you- I thought I'd lost you."

"Never," I blushed, and then held up the tray and said a little louder, "I managed to get some food before they closed the dining area."

"Nice one," he smirked. His stomach growled as he moved forward to relieve me of the tray and I followed him in. Truth be told, I'd felt real fear at his words and it unnerved me. Get a grip, Xayne. I closed the door and my eyes and took a slow, deep breath. Let's keep it together. One step at a time. I felt a nudge in the back of my mind, like I'd forgotten something but couldn't put my finger on it. I don't know what I'm doing or where I'm going, but everything starts today. I opened my eyes and straightened my spine.

Stiles had made the bed so he set the tray in the middle and we sat down with the tray of food between us and took a bite of this and shared a bite of that. We talked about our pasts and really got to know each other. Stiles told me about when he lost his mom. My heart went out to him; at least both of my parents were still alive, even if they didn't know me. He shared what it was like being "the Sheriff's kid" and about him and Scott from before Scott was bitten; how they were more like brothers. He told me about what had led up to the fateful bite from the then-Alpha, Peter Hale; another family member of Derek's.

"Wait," I interrupted, "if this Peter guy isn't still the alpha and Derek told me he wasn't the alpha anymore, then who is?"

"Scott," Stiles shrugged like it was no big deal and continued while I just nodded and let that sink in. "Actually, I was just talking to him- Peter- before you woke up last night..." he eyed me and blushed then went on to say that the only good thing about Peter was that he had killed Kate Argent, who had begun to terrorize Scott and Derek not long after Scott was bitten.

"Do you know about Kate? It's a long story," he started, but I interrupted.

"Actually, Derek told me about her, but he never mentioned Peter."

Stiles shared more about Peter and what happened to him after the Hale House fire. About his whole pain-in-the-neck Omega back-from-the-dead story and about the other creatures they had encountered over the last few years, like the Kanima, the Darach (and how his dad found out about the supernatural world around them), another friend of theirs I hadn't met yet, Kira, who was a Kitsuné, and his time as the Void.

"Do you remember anything from when you were possessed?" I blurted out. I clamped my hands over my mouth. Oh how I wished I could take those words back. "I'm sorry!" I mumbled through my fingers. "You don't want to think about that. Never mind!" Way to ruin the moment, Big Mouth, I berated myself.

"It's ok," he reassured me. "I was the one who brought it up," but still he paused. After almost a full minute he said, "I hated what I, what it was doing but... I've never told anyone this," he said, his voice low as though he feared someone else might hear him. I just waited, quiet. "I enjoyed... feeling powerful." He said the last word slowly, his eyes darted from mine then down to his feet. He looked uncomfortable with his confession, or rather, uncomfortable with what I might say about his confession.

I thought of the girl at Beacon Hills Burgers and her attitude, the way it had felt in the moment to bend her will to mine... I swallowed. "I know what you mean," I whispered. He looked at me, relief in his eyes. "When I used compulsion over these last few days, I felt more powerful than I'd ever felt before. I mean look at me; barely over 5 feet tall and I look like I could 'blow over in a breeze'..." I deadpanned.

Sheepish, he said, "Ah, you heard that?"

I flashed him a smile, "Yes, but that's my point. The day you met me that was your snap judgment. It's ok, it was true- until I was in transition..." I trailed off and we both contemplated our own thoughts on the subject.

I stood to stretch my legs and poured us coffee. When I sat back down I shared my insight at our similarity, too, in that he was an all-around athlete; he played multiple sports at a decently high level, and I was a multi-instrumentalist at a decently high level.

"What all do you play?" Stiles asked.

"Violin, cello, piano, guitar, and I'd just started learning the drums, actually," I said.

"Wow," he said, impressed. "How...?"

I told him my dad was a master carpenter and instructor at the top woodworking school in the world. How there was this one time, years ago, this guy named Tim Ferris came to take my Dad's class. Tim had this technique of being able to learn (and basically master) any skill he wanted within a ridiculously short time. My Dad was so impressed with his progress in the class that he asked Tim to tell him his secret.

"Long story short, he did and my Dad taught Justin and I. I've played the violin since fifth grade, but since the end of seventh grade I used the technique to learn a new instrument each consecutive summer."

I also talked about Willow and when she, her friends and I, and a bunch of college students had gotten stuck in a "haunted house" on Halloween one year because of an accidental spell that turned our fears into reality. And then yet another Halloween where everyone who had bought costumes from this one particular shop had all become the costumes they wore because of a spell used against Willow and her friends; everyone else had just been caught in the crossfire.

"And then there was the week we were all under a spell and literally sang about our feelings. It started out kind of funny but then people started to spontaneously combust when their emotions got too strong-," I stopped short when I realized that it was actually a relief to close that whole chapter of my life and leave the witchcraft behind. Even well-intended, it had never ended how we'd meant for it to. Something bad had always happened. I smiled to myself as my heart felt lighter and I felt a stronger nudge in my mind, like I'd almost remembered... something. Something important, but it still eluded me.

So, I talked about the couple of years with Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline in Mystic Falls and how we were about to start our Junior year before Justin and I had fled. I had been so excited, too because my gramma had gifted me a bright yellow 1981 Chevrolet Chevette Hatch after I got my license last year in December and I was finally going to be able to drive to school this year.

I shared the memories of Justin I had forced the Winchesters to see. I told him about my mom and how she had always wanted to become a baker and finally achieved her dream at the age of 35 and had been baking ever since. I shared how she, therefore, encouraged Justin and me to never give up; that dad's nickname for me was 'Fighter' and how much I missed them.

We talked for hours. We laughed a lot and cried a little until a knock sounded on my door.


	26. Choked Up

Chapter 26: Choked Up

The manager had come to let me know that if I wanted to stay another night I needed to pay, otherwise checkout was in one hour. My heart pounded as I thanked him and said I'd check out. After I shut the door, Stiles and I looked at each other from across the room. I could feel the panic in my stomach. "I guess I'll get dressed and pack up, but then what? Where am I going? What am I doing? I have no money. I'm almost out of clean clothes..." We'd had our escape from reality all morning but now it was literally at my door and demanded I move forward whether I was ready or not. I looked around at what had been my home for the last several days at a loss and at a loss for what my future held.

Stiles came over and wrapped his arms around me and I did the same as I leaned my forehead onto his chest. He dropped a kiss on top of my head. "I can carry out your library to my Jeep," he said, "then you can come back to my place to wash your clothes while we figure out what to do next, ok? One step at a time."

His words echoed my previous thought and I took a slow deep breath. That's right; one step at a time. "Ok," I mumbled into his solid chest. I turned my head to the side and listened to his heart beat. It felt unreal that he had almost died what still felt like yesterday to me. Thank you, God, for letting me keep him. I don't know what I'd do if I lost Stiles, too. I tightened my arms around him and turned to press a kiss to his healed sternum. Then I released him to turn to the chest of drawers and hide my blush as I picked out something to wear.

I selected my gray skinny jeans, soft gray t-shirt, clean underwear and bra, and the ankle socks with books all over them, then headed to the bathroom. I still had on Stiles' flannel shirt so I took it off and set it aside. I decided to jump in the shower before I left and was out in less than five minutes. My bag was still on the floor from the night before, so I put my pajamas inside before I combed out my hair and finished it with a spritz of hairspray. I brushed my teeth and put on fresh deodorant before I dried off my toiletry items from the shower and counter and added them to my bag. Then I grabbed Stiles' flannel and rejoined him out in the main room.

He was already back and had started to clean up the breakfast debris. I walked around to the chest of drawers and went to put what was left of my clean clothes in the side zip pocket then went to grab the dirty clothes that had piled up in the corner of the built-in closet and stuffed them in with the rest of my old dirty clothes. It had been about a week since the last time Justin and I had gone to a laundromat so it was past the time to do so.

I looked around the room to see if I'd forgotten anything. I spied my boots under the desk and put them in the other zippered side pocket and then saw my charger plugged in by the nightstand and went to get it. With that, everything was packed and ready to go. I put on my Converse that were at the foot of the bed and then held out Stiles' flannel to him.

"It's a little chilly out. You can wear it." He smiled, a little color lit his cheeks as he grabbed my bag, "It looked good on you."

"Thank you," I blushed as I pulled it on again, this time I tied the long ends around my waist and rolled up the cuffs so my hands were free. Then I donned my backpack and grabbed the card key and we left the room. It only took a minute to check out and then we walked out into the afternoon sunshine and cool autumn air. Stiles put my bag in the back seat as I got in. We buckled up and he started the Jeep. My umbrella and it's sleeve were still on the floor but now they were dry. I picked up the umbrella and started to work it back inside the sleeve to put it back in my backpack when Stiles spoke. "Hey, would you want to start the Star Wars marathon we talked about while the laundry is going?" he asked as he pulled out of the parking spot.

I'd forgotten about that but a lightness filled me and I grinned, "I'd love to." Stiles smiled back at me. He hesitated only a moment before he reached over to take my hand in his. It still gave me a thrill and I felt my cheeks heat up. When we arrived at his house, I noticed the Sheriff's cruiser was not in the driveway. "You can leave my books in here, if that's ok with you? No sense in carrying them all over, right?" I asked.

"Sure, no problem," Stiles replied as he opened his door and got out. He grabbed my bag out of the backseat and I grabbed my backpack and we went to the door. "I'm sure we have a box in the garage we could put them in," he said as he unlocked and opened the front door.

"Ok, thank you," I said. We went straight to the laundry room and he pointed out the detergent, fabric softener, and dryer sheets. I nodded, "Thanks. I can take it from here if you want to get the first movie set up?"

His grin was contagious he was so excited. "Ok! Would you like some popcorn?"

"Definitely," I smiled.

"Drink?" he asked.

"Water, please," I said.

He nodded and then left. I could hear him in the kitchen as I sorted out my colors from my whites. At the bottom of my bag was a book. I smiled a sad smile; this was the last book I got with Justin before he died. Whenever we had to go to a laundromat to do our laundry, we would go to the nearest bookstore- to get fresh reading materials- and market- for my food. He would compel the proprietors, much like I had done. I loved to challenge myself and base my choices off of the titles; this book was called 'Becoming Supernatural' by Dr. Joe Dispenza and would go with the rest of my 'library', as Stiles had called it.

As I set it aside, my bookmark started to fall out. I caught it and it opened right to where I had left off in the middle of the book, it's broken-in spine gave no resistance. It was the bookmark that held my attention, though. It was a laminated piece of orange construction paper with part of a hand-written letter from Justin on it. His favorite band was called Demon Hunter. After I'd told him I'd practiced witchcraft, in his next letter he'd written me a poem from a medley of their lyrics to let me know I wasn't lost or alone. He'd had hope and faith in me even when I didn't. A lump in my throat choked me as I read.

'There was a time I had control

No chains around me

Too many times I gave my soul to faltering hands

To shadows that would take me, break me down

Where is the void I'm after?

Emptiness, the final chapter

To the hollow hands of fate

No escape, nothing left

Just bones and empty roads

And a want for something more

Now sorrow burns around me

Anger, fear, and death surround me

I know they prey upon me

I feel them just beyond my door

There's a fear I used to know

Fear of loss in letting go

Fear that hollowed out my soul

The weight has taken its toll

Let me catch my breath

Follow the path given to me

Must be something left under the wreck

Calling, pulling

And when my sins are just a memory

Faith restored

Lost in the shadow of an endless grace

Forevermore'

The niggling in the back of my mind was stronger, like a whisper I couldn't quite hear or like someone's hand that barely hovered behind me. That thought gave me a chill and I looked over my shoulder. There was nothing there, of course. You're losing it, Xayne Burnell. I shook myself as I tucked the bookmark back inside the book then got the colors started and the next load ready before I brought the book into the kitchen and set it beside 2 glasses of ice water Stiles had fixed. The yummy aroma of buttery popcorn filled the room, but Stiles was nowhere to be seen.

The microwave beeped so I went to fetch the bag. I looked for a bowl and managed to find one in the third cabinet I searched. I opened the bag and poured it in before I threw the empty bag away. I took a drink from one glass before I took a kernel from the bowl, tossed it in the air, and caught it in my mouth.

"Nice catch," Stiles startled me from the doorway and I jumped. His hair was damp and he had changed into jeans and a black t-shirt and blue and black flannel. When he came over to also grab and toss a kernel in the air and catch it, I could smell soap and mint. "Sorry," he said.

"No worries," I replied as I grabbed another kernel and popped it in my mouth.

"I just wanted to freshen up; I hadn't showered since yesterday morning before I came to sit with you..." he trailed off. The press of his lips clearly said Why did I just say that? and his cheeks warmed a little.

Meanwhile, an image of him in a steamy shower, water dripping down his chest, had flashed in my head before I could stop it. My cheeks blazed and I bit my lip. Xayne, you pervert! Get your mind out of the gutter! I choked on the popcorn. Stiles patted my back and I threw my arms up, a trick my mom had taught me when I was a little girl. I got my breath back but Stiles kept his hand on my back.

"Here, take a drink," he said and handed me my glass of water with his free hand.

I took a sip and cleared my throat. "Thanks."

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah," I answered, embarrassed and took another drink.

After I caught my breath he said, "I thought I was going to have to give you mouth to mouth."

I looked at him and blushed when I realized he was flirting with me. "You might still have to," I flirted back, awkward. "J-just to be safe," I stuttered in a whisper, nervous but excited as he turned to face me.

He tipped my chin with one hand and pulled me flush against him with the hand he still had on my back. He leaned down to capture my lips. It started tender but the kiss soon gained heat. My hands had hung useless at my sides at first but now I reached up to cup his face and tangle in his hair. He deepened the kiss and picked me up to set me on the counter behind me. Our heights were more even now. He stood between my knees, his hands still at my waist, mine trailed down from his hair to his chest to follow the trails of the imagined water droplets...

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk! Thunk!

A loud metallic noise thundered and we jumped apart. The washing machine's load was uneven and had thrown it into a fit. My heart pounded as I slid off the counter.

"I'll get that," I said, breathless.

"Y-yeah," Stiles nodded, his face flushed, and tried to catch his breath. I went in to the laundry room and opened the machine lid. My blanket was bunched up on one side. I reached in to adjust the load so that it would run smoothly. It took a couple of tries but by the time I finally got it balanced, my heart rate and breathing were back to normal.

I walked back into the kitchen to find the drinks and popcorn bowl gone and a cardboard box in their place. Stiles leaned against the counter as he read 'Becoming Supernatural'. I watched him as he read and again marveled at the turn my life had taken and felt a wave of gratitude to have Stiles by my side, not to mention Derek, Lydia, Allison, and Scott. My heart squeezed in my chest.

Stiles cleared his throat, "Ready?" he asked when he saw me. I was a little embarrassed he'd caught me staring at him lost in thought. Shy smiles curled up both of our cheeks.

"Yes," I blushed again.

He put my book in the box and carried it out of the kitchen and into the living room. He sat the box by the front door and then came back and sat on the couch. The drinks were on coasters on the coffee table in front of the couch alongside the popcorn bowl. He grabbed the bowl of popcorn and picked up the remote. I sat down beside him as the main menu continued to run on a loop. He grinned with excitement and pressed play.


	27. Shaken, Not Stirred

Chapter 27: Shaken, Not Stirred

I let the story swallow me up as I became a part of their world. I absentmindedly ate popcorn out of the bowl on Stiles' lap. I only got distracted when our fingers brushed over the other's in search of our next handful. When Yoda taught Anakin that 'Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering...' something of it echoed inside me. 'Anger, fear, and death surround me', the bookmark...I felt that nudge in the back of my mind again and needed a moment to think. As if on cue, the washing machine buzzed to signal the end of my first load.

Stiles reluctantly paused the movie, stood to stretch, then helped me up.

"I'm hungry, are you?" he asked. I told him I was. "I'll make us something while you do your thing, ok?"

I answered with a smile as I stepped up on tip-toes and pulled him down to kiss his cheek, "Sounds great."

We headed to the kitchen and parted ways. I listened to the noise of him in the kitchen and tried to pinpoint what this thought was that struggled to surface out of my subconscious. I managed to switch out my clean wet clothes, start the dryer, and start my last load in the washing machine all on autopilot.

Fear, anger, and death. They'd popped up a lot lately. Was it fear, then that lead me to take matters into my own hands back in Sunnydale? I thought back to the times in the advanced computer classes at the high school; all the freaky things that happened. If God was so powerful, then why did he let all that bad stuff happen? What was I supposed to have done? And why did Justin have to die? Death and anger... At once, as if in answer, one word came to me; 'freewill.'

Freewill...? I hadn't thought about "freewill" since my days in Sunday School. I shook my head, So God created people which have freewill. That means we can go right or wrong... because if a person is free to be good they are also free to be bad... But then freewill is what has made evil possible, I argued with myself. Why, then did God give us freewill?

I closed my eyes. At first all I could hear was the dryer as it dried my clothes, the washer as it washed my clothes, and the noises from Stiles in the kitchen as he cooked. A few minutes passed as I just stood there, then it came to me. Though it makes evil possible, freewill is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of people who worked like machines would hardly be worth creating.

I thought about the decisions I'd made that got me here. I would have headed down a self-hate path but a quote I remembered seeing once stopped me in my tracks, 'For you will certainly carry out God's purpose, however you act, but it makes a difference to you whether you serve like Judas or John.' Oh God, what have I done? Without even realizing it, I'd become a completely different person, like a rocket headed to the moon that is off by only one degree; I was thousands of miles off my mark. That hit me like a punch in the gut and left me breathless.

But I can change! I felt like Ebenezer Scrooge after meeting the third Christmas spirit. I won't let my past control my future! At the same time, though, I couldn't regret anything I'd done because it had gotten me here. I peeked into the kitchen and watched Stiles. He flipped a grilled cheese sandwich over in a skillet then poured a can of tomato soup and some milk in a bowl. After he put the lid on the bowl, he shook it up then poured it into a pot to heat up. My heart melted faster than the cheese...

I can't change the past and if I was supposed to be here, then what difference does the path make as long as I serve like John from here on out? I felt better; lighter, like I might float away. I grinned as I walked up behind Stiles and wrapped my arms around his middle and breathed a deep sigh of peace. The food smelled wonderful and I told him so.

"Thanks," replied Stiles, "it's almost done. Can you get a couple of plates from that cabinet?" he asked as he pointed to a cabinet off to his left.

"Sure," I answered and went to fetch them. I set the plates on the counter beside two mugs he had gotten out for the soup. When I'd set them down, he'd scooped up the sandwich and placed it on one plate before he cut it at a diagonal with the spatula and then slid one half onto the empty plate. Then he went to the soup and stirred it a few times before he tested a sip. Satisfied, he turned off the burner and poured half into each mug.

"My mom would make me this on cold rainy days. Tomato soup; shaken, not stirred and grilled cheese cut at a diagonal 'because it makes it taste better,'" he said with a fond smile.

I smiled, too. "I would have really liked your mom, I can tell."

"She would have really liked you, too," he said quietly before he reached out and stroked my jawline. Like a magnet, I was drawn to his touch. It was crazy how fast I'd fallen for him; like we were meant to be. Maybe I was meant to save his life... of course he probably wouldn't have been in the woods that day if it weren't for me... maybe it would have been something else. Who knows? "I'm ready when you are," he said with a kiss to the top of my head before he turned to grab the mugs of soup.

"Let's do this," I grinned and grabbed the plates and followed him back to the living room.

We finished Episode I, and then jumped into Episode II. Anakin and Padmé left for Geonosis to rescue Obi-Wan before the buzzers went off. I gave Stiles a swift kiss, told him I wouldn't be more than 15 minutes and hurried off to the laundry room. I quickly folded my first load and put them in my bag before I moved the clothes from the washer to the dryer and started it up. Then I hurried to the bathroom and was back beside Stiles in 10 minutes. He grinned at my eagerness and wrapped his arm around me and pressed a kiss to my temple before I lay my head on his chest and we continued the movie again.

I got lost in the story and it made Stiles smile every time I reacted; I cried when Obi Wan fought with and then left Anakin for dead, and hid my face in his shoulder with each brutal fight, and gasped when Sidious was unmasked. We had just finished Episode III when we realized that it was dark outside. As the credits began to roll, we both stretched but were reluctant to get up just yet.

"Thank you for sharing this with me," I gestured to the screen. "I love the story so far."

He smiled, shy, "I've had more fun watching you watch them- it was like seeing them for the first time all over again."

I blushed and fidgeted with the knot I'd tied in his flannel that I wore, "You were watching me?"

He reached over to tuck my hair behind my ear as he replied, "It's hard not to."

In my mind I squealed at the implications of his statement but I wanted to be sure. Of all the things we'd talked about that morning, our dating history was not one of them. I took a nervous breath and said, "I bet you've said that to all your girlfriends."

He smiled for a few seconds before he looked at me in all seriousness. He gave a short nod. "I have," he said as he took my hand in his, "just now." Then he placed a kiss on my palm before he curled my fingers as if to hold it. Swoon. I bit my lip as I sat up and turned to face him fully, but I was at a loss for words. "And what about you? How many boyfriends have you had wrapped around your little finger?" he asked, not unkindly.

Though thrilled, my smile was slow as I leaned in to whisper, "Just the one." He smiled, too, as he closed the distance to kiss me. It was a slow burn of a kiss that melted me back onto the couch. He braced himself over me with one arm while he rested his other hand on my knee. I ran my hands along his chest and around his back. He squeezed my knee and my leg jerked out from his touch as I broke the kiss with a laugh. "Sorry! That tickled," I explained.

A smile curled up his cheek. "Oh, I didn't know you were ticklish," he teased.

I could read his plan as if it were written across his face. "Stiles," I tried to sound firm, but the effect was lost in the breathless way I said his name, "don't you dare!"

It took him only a few seconds to overpower me. He straddled me and had one hand pinned over my head while his free hand tickled me. He tickled my side, underarm, and knee while my one free hand tried in vain to push his away. I laughed until I couldn't breathe, then he stopped for me to catch my breath. That was when I fought back. I reached up and started to counter in the same places he'd gotten me. He laughed and squirmed, also ticklish. He thought fast and grabbed my wrist and pinned it above my head as well.

With both of our hands occupied, neither could tickle the other. "Truce?" he grinned.

I gave him a sweet smile and said, "Nope!" With that, while he still held on to me, I twisted my wrist around to grab his wrist furthest from the edge of the couch, hooked my foot closest to the edge around his foot, and bucked my hips to roll us off the edge of the couch and onto the floor with a thump. Startled, he dropped my wrists. Now I was on top and I quickly moved forward to pin his arms with my knees, which left my hands free.

"How'd you just do that?" The surprised look on his face made me giggle.

"A self-defense video I saw on YouTube," I shrugged. "Now, if you were an attacker, I'd pummel your nose with the heels of my hands," I said. "Then I'd jump back, punch you in your side, kick you in the crotch, and run away." As it was, I still straddled his upper chest, and the time we'd been in that position started to feel a little too intimate. The heat in my face mirrored his as we stared at each other, awkward.

That was when Sheriff Stilinski cleared his throat from the other side of the couch. "Having fun, you two?" I thought my head would combust from the blaze in my cheeks as I sat there, mute. After a few seconds of silence, he smiled, "Emma, would you mind getting off of my son?"


	28. So Much For My Happy Ending

Chapter 28: So Much for My Happy Ending

"Yes, Sir! I mean, no, Sir!" I squeaked and scrambled up. Stiles right behind me, his face also ablaze.

"Hey, Dad. Welcome home. How was work?" asked Stiles, in an attempt to diffuse and distract.

The sheriff just raised an eyebrow and didn't take the bait and opened his mouth to say something, but then the drier buzzed and he looked from me to Stiles with a look of surprise. "You're doing laundry?"

I spoke up, "It's mine, Sir."

"Xayne didn't have anywhere to go after..." he stopped short, then continued, "anyway, I said she could come here to wash her clothes and we we're having a Star Wars marathon," he gestured at the t.v. as the credits continued to roll by. "Can you believe she's never seen them?"

The Sheriff looked confused, "Who's Xayne?"

I waved at him and glanced at Stiles who took my hand and said, "Dad, you might need to sit down," he started.

"Oh, geez," the Sheriff sighed, but followed us to the table and we all sat down; Stiles and I beside each other and across from Stiles' dad.

"We're going to be honest with you," started Stiles. I looked at him, eyes wide. "It's ok," he reassured me with a squeeze, "just tell him what you told us."

"Ok," I took a deep breath and started from the beginning, much as I had a few days ago. I faltered when I came to the part where I had convinced everyone to go into the woods during grizzly hyperphagia. Stiles squeezed my hand again and took over the story. I listened with my eyes downcast, unable to look at the Sheriff. Hearing the bear attack from Stiles' point of view made me tremble. Stiles put his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. He took a moment to lean close and whisper in my ear, "Hey, it's fine. I'm fine. You saved me, remember?" before he pressed a kiss to my temple. The sheriff eyed our every gesture.

When the story was complete, the Sheriff just sat there without a sound. I couldn't take it any more and chanced a quick glance up at him. He sat back in his chair, face red, lips tight, and arms crossed over his chest. He took slow deep breaths. Finally, he spoke. "So does that mean you could become a vampire?" he asked Stiles.

"Only if I die in the next day or two and then I'd only be in transition," he answered.

He looked at me and I flinched. "And since you're human now, if that were to happen, he'd be stuck in transition unless he... he..." he gestured with his hand.

"Unless he drank enough human blood to make him a full vampire. Yes, Sir." I looked away.

The sheriff sighed and ran his hand over his face. "So all we have to do is keep him alive for the next couple of days..." he grinned wryly to himself. "Well, we've kept him alive for this long, what's a couple more days?"

Stiles frowned, "I'm not helpless, you know," he mumbled.

"I know, Son. I know," he sighed. "Alright, then."

Stiles and I looked at each other then back at his dad. Are- are we off the hook? I dared to wonder.

The sheriff stood up and looked down at me a moment before he reached across the table to hold out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Xayne." Cautious, I shook his hand. "Thank you for saving my son's life. Please do your best not to put him in harm's way again." He let go as the dryer buzzer sounded again. "Now, why don't you go sort that out while I have a little chat with Stiles, hm?" he asked, kind but firm.

I looked at Stiles, who rolled his eyes but nodded. I gave him an empathetic smile before I stood. "Yes, Sir," I said, repentant, and went to get the rest of my clothes sorted.

I could barely hear the murmur of their voices as I folded and repacked my entire bag. I didn't want to interrupt too soon. It took me several minutes to pack everything back just the way I liked and when I'd finished with the three outside pockets I rediscovered my old phone and new charger. Curiosity killed the chaton_noir, I mused and decided to save Stiles from what I hoped was just a well-meant safe-sex lecture and not a chewing-out. I'd hate to have created any more tension between father and son than I probably already had.

I carried my bag through the dining room with an, "Excuse me," and went to the living room. I found an available outlet and plugged in my phone. It was so dead it didn't even register that it was plugged in before I heard footsteps come in from the dining room. I stood up and turned around as the sheriff started to speak.

"Xayne," he began, "I can't begin to understand your predicament, but I am a reasonable man." He eyed Stiles, who wore an impatient, 'come on, Dad,' look on his face. "You can stay here for tonight but come morning we'll need to figure out a more permanent solution."

I was so relieved and beside myself with gratitude that I sort of bent my knees and bowed my head. "Thank you, Sir! I really appreciate this!"

"Did...did you just curtsy?" Stiles chuckled.

I blushed. "I don't know. Maybe. Don't judge me!" I waved my hand at him. They both chuckled, but Stiles came over to me and wrapped me in his arms. I peeked out at the sheriff.

He looked tired, but happy...or resigned. "Alright, alright you two. How about you go get some pizza for dinner while I wash the day away and then we can watch-," he gestured to the t.v.

"Episode IV," supplied Stiles.

"Episode IV," repeated the sheriff. He looked at the two of us. "Getting pizza, that should be safe enough, right?"

Stiles said he had a USB car charger, so I unplugged my phone and grabbed my bag while he called to order the pizza for pick-up. Ten minutes later we were in his Jeep. As soon as I shut the door I looked expectantly at Stiles. He smirked. "It's here," he pointed to his charger and I plugged in my phone. It was still so dead it took several seconds to even register that it was connected. "Looks like it may take awhile," he chuckled as he started the Jeep and pulled out of his driveway.

We drove in silence for a few minutes but it didn't take him long to reach across the middle gap between the bucket seats and take my hand. As the occasional streetlight passed over us we would pass glances at each other. We were the only vehicle on the road at this hour. I was so giddy with gratitude; I had a place to stay, I felt redeemed from my past, and I had Stiles. I wanted to shout from the rooftops, but would settle for singing loud and unencumbered. I turned to Stiles and asked if I could turn on the radio.

He nodded and said, "Sure."

I turned the dial with my free hand and the radio came to life but there was no music as the deejays talked. "Do you mind if I...?" I gestured to the scanner.

"No worries, go ahead," Stiles shrugged.

I turned the old scanner dial until I could find a clear station. The first one I found was country, the second was classic rock, but the third time was the charm. It was already in the middle of the song, but I recognized the heavy rock with soaring violins.

I mimicked the vocalist's gravely screams as best I could.

This is how it feels when you take your life back!

This is how it feels when you finally fight back!

When life pushes me I push harder!

What doesn't kill me makes me stronger!

I was no singer, but I sang with the female vocalist and vocal fried my best while Stiles watched me in shock...and tried not to laugh at my 'wild side' as I sang at him.

Don't you give up on me!

You're everything I need!

The music broke into a stirring electric guitar riff that lead into the scream-sung chorus. I leaned towards Stiles and used our clasped hands like a microphone.

No! Not gonna die tonight, we've gotta stand and fight forever!

No! Not gonna die tonight, we've gotta fight for us together!

No, we're not gonna die tonight!

It was at that very moment that Irony appeared in the form of a frightened deer. The first thing that caught my eye was the puff of a misty cloud that sort of shimmered in the glare from the next streetlight we were fast approaching. It took a moment to register that it was an animal breathing hard as it bounded across the road mere feet in front of us.

We let go of each other's hand; Stiles gripped the steering wheel and slammed on the brakes. As it was, I was still leaning towards the middle and was not properly protected by the shoulder strap of my seat belt. I gasped and threw up my hands as I was flung forward face-first into the dashboard. My wrists cracked upon impact and my face smashed into the radio and the bridge of my glasses snapped. We screeched to a stop in the middle of the circle of light. The pain was instantaneous and everything turned red as blood dripped into my eyes from a gash on my forehead. I was no doctor but I was pretty sure my nose was broken, my wrists were as well if not fractured, and a concussion was entirely possible. Blood poured out of my nose, over my mouth, and down my chin.

"Oh my God!" yelled Stiles as he watched the deer vanish into the trees on my side and over to me. "Oh my God!" he yelled again as he threw off his seatbelt to turn fully towards me. "Are you ok?" he asked, panic in his voice.

"Yes. No," I reached up to hold a broken half of my glasses to one eye with a barely functional hand and tried to stem the flow of blood from my nose with the sleeve of the other. I looked over at Stiles on the verge of panic myself but a figure with eyes that glowed green stood outside behind him and I screamed. I dropped the broken specs as adrenaline pushed the pain away and I lunged forward to pull him to me.

Glass sprayed over us as the figure punched through the driver side window and Stiles was hauled away from me easily. He grunted as he slammed into the door. The figure leaned down to peer at us through the broken window. "Hello, Stiles," said a woman's voice.

I blinked to clear away the blood that still dripped into my eyes, which made my vision even more blurred. I could just make out her green eyes as they continued to glow, the flash of sharp white teeth as she talked, and the deadly claws that were wrapped around Stiles throat. "Who are you? What do you want?" I asked.

She looked from Stiles to me, smirked, and then looked back to Stiles who looked shocked. "You're dead," he gasped.

"I'm not here to catch up. I have a message for Derek and Scott," said the woman as though Stiles hadn't spoke.

"How do you know-?" I started then squinted at Stiles when he gasped. I looked and saw that she had dug her claws into his throat just enough to cause blood to trickle down onto his shirt. "Never mind!" I screamed. "What's the message?!"

She again looked from Stiles to me before she smiled wickedly and said, "Tell them Kate Argent says 'Hello'." My eyes widened as recognition dawned on me. As if that was her cue, she said, "And that I'm coming for them." Then she flicked her wrist and broke Stiles' neck.


	29. Lost and Found

Chapter 29: Lost and Found

"Xayne? Xayne! What are you saying? Where are you? I'm coming!" Derek yelled through the phone that lay on the floor at my feet.

Kate had tossed Stiles back towards me and disappeared in the second I'd tried to catch him. He had one foot on his seat, the other the floorboard, and he sat between the two buckets seats with his head in my lap. A slow but steady stream of blood ran down my face and dripped with a pat pat pat onto my chest. My shirt was already drenched. The only other sound was my own frantic breaths. It was with numb fingers that I'd called Derek but all I could manage to say was, "Kate killed... Stiles... dead," before the numbing tingle of hyperventilation caused me to drop my phone. I could see the blackness as it creeped in from my peripheral vision. If I was to pass out from blood loss and too much oxygen, then the last thing I wanted to see was Stiles.

My eyes traveled from his shoes up his body and came to rest on his face; his clothes were clean and his eyes were closed as if he merely slept. I leaned forward and placed a bloody kiss to his parted lips. "I'm so sorry, Stiles," I whispered. Silent tears struggled to wash away the blood that ran into my eyes from the gash on my forehead as I sat back up. A wave of dizziness caused me to sway before I felt myself fall backward. I hit my head on the window, which cinched the blackness around me.

A muffled voice woke me. "Xayne? Xayne!" I felt my head loll as my body was urgently shook, but I couldn't move, I couldn't open my eyes, and I couldn't breathe. The door I leaned against fell away and me with it. I was caught and laidd down onto the cold, hard pavement. When I was flat on my back, my head was tipped back. My lungs screamed for air, but there was no more room. My broken nose was held closed as frantic lips were pressed to mine and blessed air was breathed into me. "Breathe, Xayne!" came the voice again.

I was rolled onto my side and blood poured out of my mouth before I was rolled back and another breath breathed into my lungs. I could hear it as it gurgled back out. The process was repeated again and again, each time copious amounts of blood surged out of me, but my lungs still wouldn't respond on their own.

"Come on, breathe! I don't know what else to do! When did you stop breathing? How badly are you hurt? Do you have a concussion?" Frantic hands touched my hands and face. "You're pulse is getting weaker.. forget it, I'm not taking any chances." I heard a grunt and then felt fresh warmth poured over my face and into my open wounds. Some of it went up my nose and I could feel it drain down the back of my throat.

"Stiles? Xayne?" a voice called from a distance. It was Derek.

"Over here!" Stiles called back.

"What happened? She- she said you were dead. She said Kate-?" questioned Derek.

"It was Kate," said Stiles firmly.

"Wait, what? What happened? Are you..." Derek paused then yelled, "What are you doing?" There was a scuffle and a grunt.

"She saved me, now I'm saving her," defended Stiles. "She wasn't breathing! Her lips were blue- she was drowning in her own blood. CPR wasn't working. I had to do something fast. Look at her! Just listen!"

The pain that had been blessedly numb, woke. A fire burned across my forehead and it felt like a white hot poker was shoved up my nose and across my lips. My wrists felt like they were made of shards of glass and my lungs were on fire, but then, all at once, the pain was gone and I was released from the paralysis. My eyes flew open as I sat up and gasped for air. I could still taste blood. I reached up to touch my face and nose- they were still wet and sticky but they felt normal, and my wrists were fine. I was a mess, but I was ok.

I looked in the direction of the two figures near me. Derek and Stiles were frozen in their pose; Derek had Stiles by his collar while Stiles just stood there, his eyes on me, arms loose at his sides. Derek slowly released him as he blinked once and then was at my side in an instant. He held me tightly in his arms as my face crumpled and I wept into his shoulder for several minutes as the adrenaline wore off. Finally, I calmed down and leaned away to look him in the eyes.

"It was really Kate?" he asked, still in disbelief as he looked to Stiles for answers, but Stiles was gone.

"He must be upset," I whispered, but a minute later he was back and Derek stood quickly.

"Hey, what's your problem?" Derek asked of him in a low growl as he took a few menacing steps toward Stiles.

"I'm so, so sorry, Stiles," I whispered as fresh tears ran down my cheeks.

In a blink, Stiles was at my side (completely ignoring Derek's threatening growl), his eyes wide. "You didn't do anything!" he murmured earnestly. "I'm not mad or upset about this." He took my hand in his and linked our fingers. With his other he gently lifted my chin until I looked him in the eye. "But I woke up with the taste of you on my tongue and it took everything in me not to pounce on you like a cat on a mouse." He licked his lips.

I bit my lip and blushed. "Yeah- I know that feeling," I whispered, a little breathless at his earnest gaze.

"Dude..." Derek said. We looked at him; his eyes flashed and his lip curled, "gross."

Ignoring him again, Stiles turned back to me. "I tracked a coyote that was nearby. I'm sorry I bolted." He stroked my bottom lip with his thumb before he cupped my cheek and leaned in until he was a mere breath away. "Remember our conversation... about power... at the motel?" he whispered across my lips.

I blinked and remembered what he'd said about the power he'd had when he was possessed. "Mmhmm," I hummed in the positive.

"Mmhmm," he echoed and nodded warmly as a slow smile wound up his cheek... and the hungry look he gave me had me feeling hot all over. I let out a shuddered breath as he closed his eyes and then took possession of my lips. As it turned out, it was a good thing we were already on the ground because the passion he poured into that kiss had me weak in the knees. I was breathless when Derek cleared his throat, impatiently a few minutes later.

Suddenly, lights flashed over us and we pulled apart to shield our eyes. Stiles scooped me up and set me on my feet. "It's Lydia," he said as my eyes still struggled to adjust. Derek glanced over and passed Stiles a look.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"Lydia doesn't eat pizza," he said as if that explained their worried looks.

"Okay-?"

"She's got fresh pizza in her car and look," he nodded in her direction.

I squinted to see through the window at her, but everything was too blurry. "Hold on," I said and went to the open passenger door. I felt around for at least one half of my glasses. When I found one on the floor, I quickly held it up to look through and looked back towards Lydia's car. She still hadn't moved. She looked dazed and unseeing as she stared out her windshield a few seconds before she opened her door and glided towards us. "Lydia?" I called to her. She just blinked and looked from my bloody appearance to Stiles, then across the road into the woods before she looked back to me again.

"Where's the body?" she said barley above a whisper, as she still stared unblinkingly.

Stiles stepped closer, "There's no body, Lydia," he said gently. She gave her head a little shake and finally blinked at him.

"What?" she asked.

"There's no body; not anymore," he replied. She blinked again, still confused. Stiles tried to clarify, "I was- but I'm not now- it was Kate and she's not anymore either... Xayne

almost... but I saved her..."

Before he could get another word out, a motor sounded close by and was quickly getting louder. Seconds later, Scott's dirt bike pulled over to us and Allison hopped off from behind Scott's back. At the look of bewilderment on my face, Derek explained simply, "Group text and lo-jacks."

"Are you guys ok?" asked Allison.

"What happened?" asked Scott at the same time.

"Define ok," I said.

"It was Kate," answered Stiles at the same time.

"What do you mean?" asked Allison (looking hard at Stiles) and Scott (looking hard at me.)

Derek stepped forward and saved us both from our poor explanations. First looking at Allison, he said, "Kate attacked them," then to Scott, "She killed Stiles."

The silence was deafening. Then all at once, the questions started flying; "What do you mean Kate-?" "Are you sure?" "You're in transition now?" "Why are you so bloody?" "Are you hurt?" "Did she say anything?" "How is she alive?" "Does that mean she's a werewolf?" "What are we going to do?"

"Whoa! Whoa!" Stiles gave a whistle and everyone fell silent again. "Yes, I'm in transition. I didn't get a look at her; it sounded like her though. She said she's coming for Scott and Derek. Xayne got hurt just before Kate showed up (there was a deer in the road) and had a lot of injuries; she passed out before I woke up and by then she was drowning in her own blood. So I saved her."

Everyone looked at me. "I'm ok now; and she was certainly something. She had claws and fangs and..." I shuddered, "her eyes glowed green."

Stiles put his arm around my shoulders as Scott and Derek looked at each other for answers but Derek just shook his head. Everyone fell silent again. After several minutes, Stiles spoke up. "Let's talk tomorrow morning; my house. Xayne needs to get cleaned up and my dad is waiting on us and some pizza."

As if the word 'pizza' was her cue, Lydia turned and went to get the pies from her passenger seat. She handed them to me but didn't let go right away. "I'm glad you're not dead," she said, then turned to Stiles, "You, too." Then she left.

"I need to tell my dad," said Allison as she gently tugged on Scott's sleeve. Scott didn't say anything; just looked between Stiles and I as Allison dragged him away.

Derek came over and took the pizzas from me and gave them to Stiles before pulling me close for a tight hug. "We'll figure this out. We'll find a way," he said before releasing me. Five minutes later, I sat numbly with the pizzas on my lap. Stiles and I rode in silence for a while before he spoke. "Maybe you should get cleaned up before we talk to my dad," he said quietly.

"Ok," I whispered.

A few minutes later we pulled into Stiles' driveway and got out. Stiles took the pizzas from me and as soon as we entered the house, I darted up the stairs. Apparently not fast enough, though; I heard the sheriff say, "What happened?"

Stiles murmured his response and I couldn't quite make it out. The sheriff didn't bother to lower his voice, however as "I'm the sheriff; I've been trained and have years of experience to... 'sense a disturbance in the force.'" could be heard from the top of the stairs where I hid. Then a little louder still, he called up, "Let's talk after your shower, Xayne. That looked like a lot of blood, are you sure your ok?'"

I jumped, "Yes, Sir!" and flew into the bathroom.

After a quick shower, I stepped out onto the plush shower rug beside the tub and wrapped myself in a towel, then I realized the pickle I was in; I had no clean clothes. I figured I could whisper at the top of the stairs and Stiles would be able to hear me like Derek had the other day; then he could bring me my bag. I went to open the door when it flew inward and knocked me back. Stiles was already bringing my bag and had come in right at the same time.

The force of the door opening caught me off balance and I started to fall backwards. In my startled state, I let go of the towel to brace myself for the hard landing I expected any second. Stiles, however, with his new reflexes, dropped the bag and caught the towel in one hand and me with the other. I found myself hauled up against him, my toes barely touching the floor, his hand against the small of my back. I automatically grabbed onto him to steady myself.

"Sorry," he murmured before reality caught up with him; I was naked and pressed up against him. His eyes darted to the cleavage pressed into his chest before bouncing back to my eyes. "Sorry!" he gasped before his eyes bounced to the vanity mirror above the sink behind me that reflected my bare bottom and our intimate position, then back to my (by now) flaming face. "SORRY!" he nearly choked and blushed furiously.

He then closed his eyes, set me on my feet, and held the towel up so that I could grab it and wrap it around myself again. "I was just brining you your bag; I realized you didn't have any clean clothes. Sorry again, Xayne. I'll meet you downstairs..." Then, I could have sworn he mumbled something about needing a cold shower, but I couldn't be sure.

A few minutes later, I was dressed in a simple pair of black leggings and tank top with a plumb- colored, off-the-shoulder sweatshirt that I knew made my eyes pop. My finger- combed waves were left to air dry as I nervously made my way downstairs to find the Sheriff and Stiles sitting at the table, waiting for me. The pizzas lay forgotten on one end.

"Ok," the sheriff jumped right in as soon as I sat down next to Stiles, "what happened when you two went to go get the pizza?"

Stiles and I glanced at each other and I bit my lip. He looked back to his dad, cleared his throat, and said, "Well, so do you remember Kate...?"


End file.
